The University of California will host a day-long summit examining the unique issues facing faculty diversity in the health sciences today (May 18) at the Waterfront Plaza Hotel in Oakland.

About 55 participants representing UC deans, department chairs, administrators and other professionals in the health sciences, will attend the event. The forum for UC faculty and staff is an important opportunity to examine how to devise recommendations and strategies for addressing equity in the health sciences.

"Over the last two decades, UC has made important progress in improving faculty diversity," said Wyatt R. Hume, UC's systemwide provost and executive vice president of academic and health affairs. "There is much more work to be done, however. The diversity of California's population has created and inspired innovative ideas and creative accomplishments. Diversity is an integral cornerstone of UC's sustained excellence."

Panelists will discuss a range of issues, including junior faculty mentoring programs and cultural competency training. Dr. Kevin Grumbach, professor and chair of family and community medicine at UC San Francisco and chief of family and community medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, will talk about UC's initiative "PRograms in Medical Education" (PRIME), aimed at improving health care for underserved populations and communities across California. Provost Hume will deliver opening and closing addresses at the conference.

Sponsored by the UC Office of the President, the summit follows a recommendation from the UC President's Task Force on Faculty Diversity which suggested a similar focus on faculty diversity in the health sciences.

In 2007, Hume appointed M. Ines Boechat, a professor at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine as special assistant to work with campus and school representatives to identify issues and develop recommendations for future efforts to foster equity in health sciences. Dr. Sharon Washington, interim director of UC faculty equity programs, has also provided valuable guidance and assistance on the project.

For more information: www.ucop.edu/acadadv/hsfaculty-equity-project

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