Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

• The Otolaryngology Diversity Visiting Medical Student Program is a funded program designed to encourage students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to experience the exceptional training that the University of Washington Department of Otolaryngology has to offer.

To better serve the Spanish-speaking population in the region, the Spanish Pediatric Otolaryngology Clinic was launched in 2021 under the leadership of Dr. Juliana Bonilla-Velez at Seattle Children’s Hospital and caters to Spanish speaking patients and families. The ability for patients to receive care in their native language leads to a better healthcare experience which can directly impact outcomes for an already vulnerable population.

• All URM applications undergo review by at least one URM faculty member.
• We incorporate the concept of “distance traveled” as a key metric.
• Active efforts within our resident ranking committee to diversify resident cohort.
• Active and engaged participation with the UW Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF).

• Our Cultural Commitment was created with input from our faculty, staff, residents, and fellows as part of our ongoing commitment to creating an environment that will allow all department members to succeed and find fulfillment in their role.

• We have partnered with O’Hara Consulting & Coaching to assist with developing intentional and measurable culture shifts to achieve our goals. Most notably, real time coaching as an outlet for department members to receive one-on-one guidance when face with difficult situations related to communication and giving and receiving feedback.

Surgical Equity Workgroup to Underscore Population Health (SEW-UP) aims to delineate inequities in surgical care across the WWAMI region, determine why such gaps exist, and implement innovative measures to achieve delivery of safe, high quality, affordable surgical care.

Ongoing research initiatives led by residents and faculty members addressing health equity and diversity within the specialty of Otolaryngology. Topics include patient experience and satisfaction measures including cultural/language aspects of care and surgical access.

Our department continually engages URM undergraduates and medical students in Otolaryngology and holds active memberships in the following:

• Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
• Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
• Society of University Otolaryngologists (SUO)

• UW Medicine’s Office of Healthcare Equity
• UW School of Medicine’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Faculty Taskforce 
• Visiting Scholars Program  
• CEDI Center for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion 
• UW Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (UW-NURF)
• UW Medicine’s Healthcare Equity Toolkit
• UW Medicine Transgender and Gender Non-Binary (TGNB) Care
• UW Medicine’s Bias Reporting Tool:

The University of Washington School of Medicine has developed a tool to report incidences of bias from one-time microaggressions to more severe and sustained behavior. For more information: https://depts.washington.edu/hcequity/bias-reporting-tool/ )

To access the reporting tool: https://redcap.iths.org/surveys/?s=RH49HNT8EA

• Diversity at the University of Washington

• Seattle Children’s Hospital Center for Diversity and Health Equity
• Seattle Children’s Hospital Commitment to Anti-Racism