Underrepresented in medicine scholars develop a diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum via virtual externship

Intro/Background: The Denver Health Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) Clerkship in Emergency Medicine awards up to ten scholarships per year to 4th year medical students from underrepresented groups to participate in a hybrid clinical and community service-based rotation. Due to COVID-19, visiting student rotations were cancelled in 2020. The clerkship was converted from a 4 week in-person externship to a virtual format during which the scholars helped develop a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) residency curriculum. Purpose/Objective: The overarching goal of this work is to improve cultural responsiveness through instruction in the DEI pillars of awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills within the residency and department of emergency medicine by: 1) advancing our recruitment efforts by engaging URiM scholars in a virtual clerkship, 2) providing the scholars with training and mentorship from experts in DEI, curriculum design, and research, and 3) developing a comprehensive, evidence-based, 2-year DEI curriculum. Methods: The virtual clerkship ran for 13 weeks from July to October. Scholars participated in 7 hours of didactic training from faculty mentors (4 hours on DEI and 3 hours on education theory, curriculum design, and scholarship) and discussions on assigned readings to establish baseline knowledge. A needs assessment of the residency, a focus group, and the personal URiM experiences of the scholars and faculty guided the overall curriculum design, topic selection, and session format. Outcomes (if available): Six of the ten awardees chose to participate in the virtual clerkship and helped create 10 hours of curriculum content focused on the 4 DEI pillars of awareness, attitude, knowledge and skills to be delivered in lecture, simulation, flipped classroom, and small group formats. Scholars created slide-decks and facilitator guides for each session and delivered example presentations at the end of the rotation. Scholars received mentorship on the emergency medicine residency application and interview process. Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic and racial upheaval in the United States in 2020 demanded innovation in medical student education and mentorship, URiM recruitment, and DEI curriculum development. We successfully engaged six URiM 4th year medical students in a virtual clerkship, provided training in DEI and curriculum design, conducted a needs assessment and focus group within our residency to inform curriculum design, and created a robust, evidence-based, recurring 2-year DEI curriculum for our emergency medicine residency and could be easily adapted for other settings.