Department of Radiology Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

Respect for all and all are welcome

Our mission is to employ a diverse community of faculty, learners, and staff that enriches our learning environment and helps provide better patient care. The mission of OHSU Department of Radiology Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee is to create a healthy environment that cultivates unity, understanding, and collaboration among all so we can all reach our full potential.

Diagnostic Imaging Our People

Denouncing racism and embracing inclusion

The OHSU Department of Radiology’s DEI & Belonging Committee strongly denounces the ongoing overt racist, discriminatory and violent acts towards individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and religious groups and condemns all such acts towards people of all backgrounds. Discrimination and inequality that remain casually pervasive throughout our society are often harder to identify, but are just as damaging in their insidious nature.

We must intentionally strive for a more open, diverse, inclusive, and equitable healthcare environment for the future of medicine and Radiology. Proactive steps toward making inclusion and diversity an institutional aim will only serve to improve patient care. At the heart of it, this means learning about the legacy of privilege and racism in our own country, city and profession, accepting the discomfort of change, and truly listening. Really listening with an open mind to try to understand others and challenging ourselves to identify and actively work against our own biases are the only acceptable path forward.

Our country deserves better, our patients deserve better, and we must do better.

Education and Cultural Diversity

Unconscious bias training

The Unconscious Bias Campus-wide Initiative is part of many ongoing efforts led by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion to remove barriers to individual and group success. Phase one of the initiative comprises a two-hour training for employees and the identification of ambassadors.

See what’s happening around the School of Medicine and visit the OHSU SOM Diversity and Equity page and Gender Equity in Academic Health and Medicine page.

ABR Alternate Pathway

International Medical Graduates from the reaches of globe participate in our American Board of Radiology Alternate Pathway to Certification.  These outstanding individuals enrich our programs not only by bringing their unique talents as radiologists, but also by sharing their cultural perspectives with our faculty, trainees, staff, and patients and contributing to greater cultural diversity.  Recent, current, and incoming trainees hail from places like Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, India, Japan, Kenya, and Nigeria. Learn more about our ABR Alternative Pathway to Certification program. 

Radiology Thai Residency Exchange Program

Through the OHSU - Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) Radiology Residency exchange program, 2-4 senior residents from OHSU spend one month immersed in Thailand’s premier radiology residency program. During their month at Siriraj Hospital, OHSU residents learn by reviewing cases alongside Siriraj’s radiology residents, during case read-out sessions with faculty, and through regular didactic conferences. But this educational experience reaches far beyond the workstation. Residents also learn about healthcare systems, approaches to medical education, and a culture that may be different than their own. In addition, Thai trainees have the opportunity to come to OHSU to learn in the exchange program. 

Botswana Radiology Elective

OHSU Radiology residents have the opportunity to learn and teach Radiology in Botswana at the Princess Marina Hospital, a tertiary government Hospital in the capital of Botswana. Over the course of the 5-week immersive program, Radiology residents engage in teaching and clinical care, providing critical Radiology services to patients and assisting other providers as Radiology consultants as part of the clinical care team.

Stepping-In for Respect

All OHSU Diagnostic Radiology Faculty members and trainees underwent a 2-part Stepping-In for Respect Workshop over the Fall of 2022 through Spring 2023. The workshop is a bystander training program developed at the University of Virginia intended to support a culture of respect and inclusion. Through this workshop, attendees learned how to effectively respond to difficult encounters and ways to support others who may have experienced such situations. Attendees also learned of the various supportive resources that OHSU offers and how to access them.

Rad Young Portlanders

Rad Young Portlanders is a community outreach program to develop young people’s interest and awareness of the radiological sciences, both as potential career opportunities and as relevance to the medical field. Faculty and trainee volunteers from the OHSU Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Radiology Departments have partnered with the healthcare track at Benson Polytechnic High School to provide recurring learning experiences that are embedded within the school’s medical systems-based curriculum. Experiences include case-based learning, gross pathological specimens, and biopsy simulation under ultrasound guidance.

Academy of Online Radiology Education (ACORE)

Three of our faculty are senior editors of Academy of Online Radiology Education (ACORE) which provides free, high-quality online radiology education. Although this project was just established in 2020, learners from all six continents already use this platform. Learning tools include monthly blogs summarizing the most relevant radiology articles in each subspecialty of radiology, webinars, and interesting cases. Our faculty serving as editors are Dr. Bronwyn Hamilton for the neuroradiology section and Dr. Alice Fung for the gastroenterology and genitourinary sections.

Global Health Radiology Medical School Course

Dr. Chara Rydzak presented a special OHSU Medical School Enrichment Course/Activity called “Global Health Radiology – An Introduction.”  The activity used radiology images to teach global health concepts and convey radiology’s critical role in healthcare. The course touched on the lack of basic radiology services (and other health care) contributing to poorer outcomes in resource-poor regions both locally and globally. Participants also discussed strategies for increasing access in underserved populations and the far-reaching effects of poor global health.

SoM Diversity

School of Medicine Diversity

Mentorships, partnerships, resources, news and more

Gender issues in radiology and patient care

Gender Equity in Academic Radiology (GEAR) Group

GEAR graphic

The mission of the Gender Equity in Academic Radiology (GEAR) group is to advance goals of gender equity across Radiology, providing solidarity, camaraderie, and mentorship to women and gender diverse residents, fellows, and faculty and their allies within the Department of Radiology.  GEAR programs are designed to enhance and support professional development and collaboration as well as broaden knowledge on how to achieve gender equity at all levels. Additionally, this group provides outreach to medical students in order to promote and increase consideration of radiology as a prospective specialty choice by women and gender diverse individuals, as well as engaging with the larger community on efforts to achieve gender equity goals.

Upcoming Events
Coming soon!

Visit our Gender Equity in Academic Radiology, School of Medicine page.

Gender diverse patient focused care

This is a 3D image of a CT angiogram for surgical planning for a phalloplasty skin flap.
3D image of a CT angiogram for surgical planning for a phalloplasty skin flap.

OHSU faculty and trainees are dedicated to providing high quality and inclusive care for trans and gender diverse individuals. For example, imaging plays an important role in planning for gender affirming surgeries (see example image). Screening mammograms are also recommended for transfeminine patients who have been taking hormones for greater than 5 years and for transmasculine patients with history of reduction mammoplasty or no chest surgery. We aim to ensure that all patients feel welcome and cared for.

Reproductive healthcare imaging

womens access to reproductive healthcare

The radiology department at OHSU is committed to state-of-the-art imaging for pregnant patients in order for them to have choices for their reproductive health.  We work closely with the Section of Family Planning as well as all providers taking care of all pregnant patients. We are the imaging experts embedded in the Fetal Care and the Fetal Surgery Program. Our goal is to provide timely advanced imaging for our patients throughout pregnancy.

Events

Upcoming GEAR Events
American Heart Association Heart Walk | Tom McCall Waterfront Park | June 1, 2024
Join our team!

Previous GEAR Events
American Heart Association Heart Walk | Tom McCall Waterfront Park | June 3, 2023
Birdie Time Mini Golf | 925 SW Main St, Portland, Oregon | August 4, 2023
Winter GEAR potluck & Welcome Party | Portland, Oregon | January 21, 2024
GEAHM Leadership Conference | Portland, Oregon | February 6, 2024

Resources

Black and African American Provider Resource Guide
A resource guide to combat systemic racism within our county, city, state, and social services continuum of care.

OHSU Inclusive Language Guide
All of us are learning what it means to be more inclusive and equitable, and our language is important and ever-changing. This language guide clarifies terminology and explains why some terms are considered appropriate or inappropriate.

Committee members