MGH Institute is recognized with a HEED Award for the eighth consecutive year

A student initiative that encouraged expanding previous efforts to create more inclusive learning spaces has developed into a nationally recognized commitment to the principles of justice, diversity, and inclusion at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. Now, for the eighth time since those early efforts, Insight Diversity Magazine has awarded a 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award to the MGH Institute. 

The HEED award acknowledges excellence in the pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, nursing, and allied health schools across the United States through mentoring, teaching, research, and many other campus priorities. The MGH Institute was the only health professions college in Massachusetts to receive the award. 

That 2017 student-led initiative at the MGH Institute developed into the establishment of the Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI). Dr. Kimberly A. Truong, the Institute’s Chief Equity Officer, said the JEDI Office offers institute-wide support, working with all parts of the IHP to advance the JEDI commitment and vision.

“Our office is focused on all constituency groups, like supporting departments, offices, faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni, and prospective students,” said Truong. “We engage in capacity building so being able to provide learning opportunities, such as Power, Privilege, and Positionality and other professional development directly. We also provide individual and group consultations. For example, if faculty members want to process something that happened in the classroom or plan for a learning activity, we can meet with them and support them. The same goes for students, staff, and administrators. We meet with students to help with processing some of their experiences, we share resources with them.”

This award does not just recognize the JEDI Office, but also acknowledges the entire Institute of Health Professions for its continued excellence in DEI in higher education. Departments and offices collaborate with the JEDI office and lead their own initiatives - from mapping out their core functions relative to the JEDI core competencies, engaging in JEDI syllabus auditing, goal setting to improve JEDI efforts in their departments, and infusing JEDI content into and across the curriculum. Through its commitment to equity and anti-oppression, the JEDI office and the entire organization have continued to grow and develop, all of which has contributed to receiving the HEED award on a yearly basis.

“Receiving the award again means that we're not stagnant, that the IHP is continuing to do the work and to improve every day,” said Truong. “The folks who recognize us see that we're continuing to develop and grow as an organization to be more equitable and inclusive of members of our community.”

Insight Diversity Magazine is the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. According to publisher of Insight, Lenore Pearlstein, the magazine’s award process includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees, looking for the best on-campus practices. They also examine leadership support, diversity, and inclusion on campuses. 

“Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus,” said Perlstein.

Do you have a story the Office of Strategic Communications should know about? If so, let us know.