Culture is Complicated, and There’s a Curriculum for it
Surgeons are used to discussing clinical complications, and there’s even a formal process for it: In the Department of Surgery, weekly death and complications (D&C) conferences are held to peer-review specific cases with adverse outcomes. The goal is to discuss them in a non-threatening way and to find ways to prevent similar outcomes. What happens when an adverse outcome is rooted in the cultural rather than the clinical?
Viewpoint: Cultural Complications: A Novel Strategy to Build a More Inclusive Culture ‘
‘Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.’’ — Frances Hesselbein.
I work. To jumpstart this initiative, we developed a toolkit that aims to help interested parties deliver a monthly Cultural Complications module. The foundation of the toolkit is a PowerPoint-based curriculum that introduces 12 core DEI topics and a case bank containing examples of how the topic manifests in the hospital environment to pair with each topic
American Journal of Surgery: Cultural Complications Curriculum
Every day, patients, physicians, and staff are forced to contend with bias in the hospital environment. Although the negative effects of this exposure are increasingly recognized, how to combat it is not well established. We created a cultural complications curriculum to address this deficit. Panelists from Michigan Medicine, the University of Maryland, and the American Journal of Surgery hosted an introductory webinar about the curriculum on July 7, 2020. This webinar will address why and how to implement a cultural complications curriculum at your institution, as well as lessons learned from pilot programs at the University of Michigan and University of Maryland.
Visual Abstracts and AWS He for She with Dr. Chelsea Harris
Dr. Rena Malik discusses the AWS He for She Committee with Dr. Chelsea Harris, Surgical Resident at University of Maryland School of Medicine. They also discuss Dr. Harris's experience as Creative Director for Annals of Surgery including the impact of Visual Abstracts. Learn how preparation and sponsorship worked together to open doors to new opportunities along the way. Find Dr. Harris on Twitter @CAHarrisMD