OBJECTIVE: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) curricula have a growing role in medical education environments. As students and educators team up to combat racist practices in medicine and medical education, spaces are opening for learners to engage with these topics. One such space has become available for students in their psychiatry rotation. A DEI curriculum was created for medical students at the University of Minnesota on their psychiatry rotation. This program aimed to provide opportunities for self-reflection, analyze historic and present systemic bias, and discuss how individuals and communities with disabilities face barriers in health care.
METHODS: The authors created a DEI curriculum for the University of Minnesota medical student psychiatry clerkship. Resources focusing on culturally informed psychiatric care of individuals from groups underrepresented in psychiatry were identified. The authors asked students to engage with three resources and attend an in-person processing group to discuss the resources and clerkship experiences. After the course, students filled out two mixed quantitative and qualitative surveys about the resources and the curriculum.
RESULTS: Between May 2022 and March 2023, 176 students participated in the third-year psychiatry clerkship and DEI curriculum. Of these, 125 (71%) indicated an increased level of comfort engaging with psychiatric patients from backgrounds different from their own, 46 (26%) indicated their level of comfort had not changed, and 5 (3%) reported decreased comfort.
CONCLUSIONS: The DEI curriculum integrated into the University of Minnesota third-year psychiatry clerkship was well received by students, with positive feedback about the curriculum and an increased ability to work with psychiatric patients from diverse backgrounds.