Pediatric Diversity and Inclusion Council

We are committed to the well-being and success of all community members. Columbia complies with all applicable civil rights laws and does not engage in illegal preferences or discrimination.

The Pediatric Diversity and Inclusion Council (PDIC) was founded in 2013 to provide a supportive environment for underrepresented in medicine (UIM) residents as they navigate their training, and to serve as a resource for career guidance, with a focus on professional and personal growth.

Since its inception the PDIC has undergone tremendous growth. We have broadened the department’s focus from recruiting a diverse housestaff to providing structured diversity and inclusion programming as core elements of our pediatrics residency training experience.

The PDIC is open to all residents, fellows, faculty, and health care team members in the Department of Pediatrics. The council’s activities include annual welcoming social events for members, bimonthly meetings with resident members, quarterly meetings with faculty members, and matching diversity faculty mentors with resident members.

The council has developed conferences and resident-led workshops for the core residency morning educational conferences and has held programs on difficult conversations about race in America, implicit bias, and microaggressions. In addition, the council has created a diversity and inclusion grand rounds series and an annual celebration of diversity symposium: a daylong event including a grand rounds lecture, presentations featuring community health providers, peer-to-peer workshops led by pediatric residents, and a town hall with invited guests.

The PDIC now has fellow, faculty, and interdisciplinary liaisons, and is developing targeted programming for these groups. A key example of these efforts is the partnership between PDIC leadership and the Office of Medical Education, Diversity, and Inclusion to deliver and implement faculty implicit bias training and anti-racism workshops. Lastly, with the recent creation of a new chief diversity officer role in the department, we are integrating and aligning our efforts with this administrative leader to further elevate our mission of inclusive excellence.

PDIC Officers and Members