Some of our residents have been instrumental in working together with Brown University medical students and the youth-led group Gen Z in organizing the Code Black RI Health Equity For Black Lives March and creating the ongoing Code Black RI working group to create foundational, systems-level change across healthcare institutions in Rhode Island with the support of training program faculty.

Brown University strongly supports and leads many diversity initiatives at all levels of the organization, including the President's office. For example, Brown's Office of Institutional Diversity provides leadership for the formulation and oversight of policies related to pluralism and equity, and initiates programs and practices that promote diversity, inclusion, and fair treatment of all members of the community. More specifically, Brown University directs multiple recruitment strategies toward the goal of achieving greater diversity among its faculty and students. Within the Medical School, the Dean of Biology and Medicine, Associate Dean for Diversity, and Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior are partners in this enterprise.

Below are several specific initiatives of the Division of Biology and Medicine's Office of Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OBEDI):

The Brown Minority Housestaff Association (BMHA) became a recognized housestaff organization in 2013. BMHA is advised through faculty, the GME Department and the Office of Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OBEDI). The BMHA is an organization that strives to promote a diverse housestaff through community building, mentorship, networking, and advocacy. The strength of a diverse workforce more effectively meets the needs of the diverse population of patients we serve.

The goals of the Council are to provide a forum to identify current diversity and inclusion activities within each clinical department; share these activities and ideas so that we may all learn from them; eliminate barriers to diversity and inclusion; educate and empower committee members to be able to evoke change within their departments; create a centralized knowledge base about the status of diversity and inclusion activities within each department; and create a unified vision of what diversity and inclusion looks like at Brown.

Formerly the Race in Medicine Taskforce, this committee is made up of students, staff, and faculty and is charged with implementing a coherent and inclusive curriculum at The Warren Alpert Medical School.

The OBEDI Fellowship is a one-year funded position. The fellow is a Brown medical student who works to develop skills in leadership, collaboration, and program development through the creation of initiatives that address the mission of the OBEDI and the priority areas of Brown's Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP).

The Petersen Educational Enhancement Fund supports innovative service or research initiatives designed to have a positive impact on individuals, families, and communities. The Fund encourages students to undertake projects in the United States or abroad that not only will foster their own development and enrich their  educational experience but, just as importantly, will enable them to give back to the community at large.

A leadership program for medical students, residents, and faculty to increase our internal capacity to address structural racism.

Students and trainees with disabilities are welcomed at Brown and provided with services through the Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS), which ensures adequate accommodation for physical or mental disabilities. SEAS coordinates accommodations with departments throughout the university, provides updates on access conditions, and offers a wide array of assistive technologies.