Dimensions of Diversity

State-funded medical schools exist as a public benefit to train future physicians who will serve the population. For this reason, the composition of our school should reflect the diversity of the population served. A diverse medical school community provides the cultural exposure to allow faculty, students, and staff the opportunity to appreciate the diverse perspectives of their colleagues and to foster attitudes, which will allow them to better serve patients. Additionally, those from diverse backgrounds are likely to serve diverse populations in a more sensitive and supportive fashion.

QCOM values diversity among medical students, faculty, and staff, including but not limited to race/ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, religion, and socioeconomic, educational, and geographic diversity. QCOM places a special emphasis on recruitment and retention of students who are members of groups historically underrepresented in medicine, students from socioeconomically and/or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds (including students from rural/Appalachian regions), and those with veteran status or future military commitments. While QCOM is in a geographic region with less diversity than highly populated urban locations, and thus faces challenges in attracting a diverse student and faculty/staff population, we recognize the importance of dedicated efforts to promote diversity and inclusion as necessary and beneficial to fulfilling our mission.

It is the policy of the Quillen College of Medicine to make special efforts for recruitment from these groups in seeking faculty, students and staff through several stages of inclusion: seeking to broaden our search efforts for faculty and student applicants, engaging diverse individuals by learning more about features important to them in an institution, supporting them by preparing them as well as the environment they will be entering, and taking steps to remove barriers to their success.