Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Mount Sinai Hospital Neurology Residency Program is dedicated to the recruitment of trainees from diverse backgrounds that will enhance the culture of our program and to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for our trainees to thrive throughout their training.

Residency DEI Initiatives Include:

  • Inclusion of an Associate Program Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in program leadership to lead DEI initiatives within the residency 
  • Quarterly Health Equity Rounds (resident-led cases to discuss structural and social determinants of health in the care of patients with neurological disease) 
  • Participation in the American Academy of Neurology pilot of its Anti-Racism Education Program and integration of the modules within the Neurology Residency Health Equity curriculum 
  • Walking tour to introduce residents to the history of MSH Hospital and the Department of Neurology and provide context to the care of patients from Harlem and East Harlem communities 
  • Yearly morning report to highlight International Pronoun Day, disseminate pronoun stickers for ID badges, and lecture on LGBTQ+ health
  • Creation of a home visit program to increase access to neurological care (Neurology residents identify patients to see together in collaboration with the Medicine-Pediatrics residents as their PCP)

Department DEI Initiatives Include: 

  • Mount Sinai Health System Grand Rounds speakers in 2022-2023 on topics focused in DEI
    • Addressing Health Literacy to Advance Health Equity (Alyssa Gale, MPH)  
    • Black Patients Matter in Headache Medicine: Exploring Race, Racism, Race-based Headache Disparities, and Professional Ethics (Larry Charleston, MD MSc)  
    • Cultivating More Equitable and Inclusive Dementia Research and Care (Monica Rivera Mindt, PhD)  
    • Neurology in Action: Caring for Forcibly Displaced Populations (Altaf Saadi, MD)  
    • Relationship-centered care in Brain Injury and Neurodegenerative Diseases (Sarah Bannon, PhD) 
    • Leveraging Patient-Reported Outcomes to Advance Person-Centered Care (Heather Leeper, MD) 
  • Neurology faculty participation on the GME Diversity Council 
  • Neurology presence at the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) 
  • Neurology faculty participation in unconscious bias training 

Visiting Electives Program for Students Underserved in Medicine (VEPSUM) 

The Department of Neurology is proud to collaborate with the visiting medical student elective program, VEPSUM. This program is for rising 4th year medical students from diverse backgrounds, including those who are economically disadvantaged and/or have limited access to high-quality early exposure rotations in neurology, who are interested in doing a 4-week clinical elective with us. There is no application fee for VEPSUM and students can receive up to $3700 to assist with living expenses.  Learn more about the Visiting Electives Program for Students Underserved in Medicine here.