College of Medicine names new assistant dean for DEI

Awosika has been involved in numerous departmental DEI task forces and helped form the Implicit Bias Improvement Group in 2019, which has since transformed into the Medical Community Advocates for Representation, Equity and Social Justice (MedCARES). Awosika is the faculty champion of MedCARES, which serves to reduce implicit bias in the Internal Medicine Residency Program and promote diversity and inclusion. She also previously has served as the faculty advisor for the Minority Housestaff Association, which helps create opportunities for advancement of under-represented residents and fellows through mentorship, networking and professional development. She also is chair of the Resident Clinical Competency Committee and serves as an advisor to the Resident Diversity Leadership Program. Recently, Awosika has become an advisor to under-represented minority third- and fourth-year medical students.

These efforts have helped bring national recognition to Awosika. In 2021, she was selected as one of the National Minority Quality Forum Forty Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health to represent the next generation of thought leaders in reducing health disparities and serve as role models. At the College of Medicine, she has received the Richard Vilter Award in the Department of Internal Medicine and was a 2021 recipient of the college’s Excellence in Mentoring Award.

“It has been a privilege to know and truly reaffirm the inspiring backgrounds, journey and talent that are found within our medical student body,” Awosika says. “The journey from entering medical school to its completion may be one filled with relative ease for some, but for others, there is also the recognition of elements of adversity and hardship. The concept of the ‘distance traveled’ looks different for each learner and it is our responsibility as medical educators to acknowledge those differences.”

Awosika will work closely with Steven Kniffley Jr., PsyD, after he begins May 8 as senior associate dean for DEI and also will collaborate with Philip Diller, MD, PhD, senior associate dean of educational affairs.

Awosika says she is optimistic in the direction the college has taken and its growth in the area of DEI, but knows that additional work is needed. She points to mitigating bias while promoting competency-based medical education, supporting pipeline initiatives and reducing bias in assessment as among her goals. She also wants to explore ways to optimize the clinical experiences for students in the various clinical site environments so learning is equitable. She hopes her work will “help to elevate the pursuit of cultural humility in our various spaces that would provide a ripple effect when we interact with the surrounding communities.”

“There is undeniable richness to the power of DEI, from building our teams and nurturing our clinical and research environments, empowering and educating stakeholders, to providing optimal care to the same diverse patient populations we have the privilege of serving,” Awosika says. “More specifically, the devotion to DEI efforts and the work that remains in supporting our learners is work that will allow us to celebrate the successes while also exploring how to come back to the table to overcome the challenges. It is a feat that patience, forward thinking and collaboration will help in sustaining us as leaders in continuing to promote the progress and advancements that are necessary.”