Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine earns national award for commitment to diversity

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine honors school for sixth consecutive year.

Catherine Doss

11 Oct 2023

Young woman watching what a nurse is doing on her lap top in a clinical setting. — Sydnee Harrison (at left) reviews an electronic chart with Quianna Charles at Carilion Children's. Harrison is a fourth-year student at Virginia Tech majoring in clinical neuroscience and recently spent her second summer as part of VTCSOM's Early Identification Program. Photo by Ryan Anderson for Virginia Tech.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine has awarded the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award for the sixth straight year. The 64 schools earning 2023 awards were announced Oct. 11 and will be featured in the December issue of the magazine.

The HEED Award recognizes U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.

INSIGHT Into Diversity also recognized Virginia Tech with a diversity champion award for exemplifying an unyielding commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout it campus community, across academic programs, and at the highest administrative levels. The honor signifies that the university ranks in the top tier of HEED Award recipients.

“The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that shows continued leadership support for diversity and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. “Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across campus.”

Diversity initiatives at VTCSOM include:

The Health Professions Enrichment Program and JumpStart initiative are educational outreach programs for high school students who have shown a passion and commitment to pursuing science and health care professions.
The Healthcare Enrichment Learning Program is an elementary school pathway program that provides experiential learning sessions to enhance knowledge of handwashing, hygiene, health care careers, and health disparities.
Health Equity Scholars is a partnership with three of Virginia Tech’s Living Learning Communities: Ujima for Black students; Orion for those interested in science; and GenerationOne for those who are first-generation college students. The program provides experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students interested in health care who are living in one of those three LLCs.
Mentoring Communities is a medical student retention initiative where, as part of faculty-led groups, students receive individualized and group mentoring to foster personal and professional growth.
For several years, the school’s Early Identification Program has been offered to undergraduate students at several colleges and universities who are underrepresented in medicine. The program provides intensive medical school prep over two summers for rising juniors.
ProjectMED is a collaboration with Historically Black Colleges and Universities that identifies and provides resources to prepare students underrepresented in medicine for undergraduate medical education.

“Each year, as we prepare the application for the HEED award, a comprehensive analysis of the school’s DEI efforts is performed to ensure alignment with our values,” said Angelica Witcher Walker, assistant dean for student vitality and director of student affairs. “Receiving the Health Professions HEED award for six consecutive years is extremely meaningful as it objectively acknowledges VTCSOM’s longitudinal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

For more about the 2023 Health Professionals HEED Award, visit inightintodiversity.com.