AAN 2025 DEI Project Grant

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

The current demographics of neurologists in this country do not reflect the diversity of our patient population. As we face a future shortage of neurologists, we should be attracting future generations of neurologists from varied backgrounds to mitigate both of these systemic deficiencies. Our Neurology Department’s Community Advancement Committee (formerly the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee) was established in 2019. Over the past five years, our work has reached beyond the department and has been recognized at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Medicine level, within our local community, and nationally. For the last three years, our department has been part of the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences Discovery Healthcare Program (DHP). The aim of this program is to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for high school students with diverse life experiences and perspectives pursuing careers in healthcare. The program is dedicated to empowering these students through support, mentorship, and enrichment opportunities. The goal of the program is to assist them in their transition from high school to college and, ultimately, into a healthcare profession, where they would be part of a diverse and equitable healthcare workforce that better reflects the communities they serve. The project has already been implemented. Now in it’s fourth year, the student participants from Bryan Station High School in Lexington, KY represent the diversity of our community. Freshmen participate in Ignite Sessions where they are introduced to the DHP and “in-house” field trips where representatives from different healthcare fields provide hands-on exposure throughout the academic year. During their sophomore year, the students participate in a multidisciplinary, longitudinal case study with a team of healthcare professionals. Sophomores also visit the UK HealthCare Campus to explore clinical areas, tour laboratories, and engage in hands-on activities. Juniors participate in full-day campus visits every quarter for in-depth expansion of activities from their sophomore years. As seniors, students can shadow and observe participating healthcare providers during their routine activities throughout the academic year. We are seeking funding for a specific event: the sophomore campus visit and luncheon. We would like to use this opportunity–the first time students will be on the medical campus–to provide them with neurology tools as motivation to pursue careers in neurology. We will teach them how to use the tools so that they will understand their importance in clinical diagnosis of neurological diseases and can use them over the course of the DHP. Items we wish to purchase include reflex hammers, pen lights, and tuning forks.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date12/10/2412/9/25

Funding

  • American Academy of Neurology: $2,000.00

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