A Unit of the Mount Sinai Health System Office for Diversity and Inclusion
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) has been making an institutional investment in diversity and inclusion since 1998 when the Department of Medical Education established the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs (CMCA) under the leadership of Gary Butts, MD. For over 20 years, the CMCA has been focusing on enhancing the academic success, retention, and personal development of students from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine. CMCA recruits, develops, and implements programs, activities, and procedures designed to achieve our goals. As a result, we have won awards from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Center of Excellence (COE) in Minority Health in 2002 and its Health Career Opportunities Program (HCOP) which has been funded since 2008. In 2004, CMCA was granted center status by the School and became the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs (CMCA).
Today our office is known as the Patricia S. Levinson Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs (CMCA), named after a longstanding trustee and devoted supporter of our work. CMCA is one of three units of the Mount Sinai Health System’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) where we work collectively to advance diversity and inclusion across New York State’s largest academic hospital system. The broad focus of ODI is to champion a diverse workforce, strive to create a multicultural environment, and foster an inclusive setting to ensure delivery of high-level care to the diverse patient populations in New York City and beyond. At ISMMS, CMCA has evolved into becoming the School’s longstanding diversity center. CMCA is a driving force that cultivates, integrates, and advances the principles of diversity and inclusion in ISMMS systems, structures, policies, practices, and mindsets among our students, trainees, faculty, and staff. Our mission is to eliminate health disparities through a nationally recognized center. CMCA’s structure uses innovative, integrative, and coordinated approaches to patient care, education, and research in community settings. We strive to improve the health of all populations by diversifying the clinical workforce, conducting research, and influencing health policy at all levels.
Please see our ODI/CMCA Brochure for more information.
CMCA works closely with the other two other units of ODI: the Center for Excellence in Youth Education and Corporate Health System Affairs.
- Center for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE) is located at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and operates a range of school-year and summer science enrichment programs geared to youth belonging to groups that are underrepresented in medicine and science.
- Corporate Health System Affairs (CHSA) is located in the corporate services building at 150 East 42nd Street. This unit recommends and establishes best practices in diversity management to engage the organization in cultural effectiveness, address disparities, and enhance the patient experience. CHSA leads and promotes dedicated programs for LGBT health, people with disabilities, supplier diversity, and youth talent pipeline programs.