Diversity

The Department of Psychiatry shares Dartmouth Health’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. We value human diversity in all its forms and are committed to providing a welcoming, respectful, and supportive environment which values the contributions of all members of the team. As healthcare professionals, we know that health disparities and inequities disproportionately affect those from marginalized backgrounds, including those with psychiatric illness.

Both Geisel and Dartmouth Health recruited new leadership in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2022. Teresa Dean Malcolm, MD, FACOG, MBA serves as the vice president for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) at Dartmouth Health, and Lisa McBride, PhD was named the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADDEI) at Geisel.

Thera Poster

The department convened a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging committee in 2020. The committee welcomes trainees and continues to work toward identifying areas of improvement in diversity and inclusion across the department community. Recent initiatives have included a Race and Health Equity Learning Exchange, numerous invited grand rounds speakers on DEIB topics, dedicated journal club sessions focused on diversity and inclusion, and increased integration and emphasis on DEIB topics within our curriculum. Our residents are active in DEIB work, and recent accomplishments among our residents include an APA diversity leadership fellowship award, resident led DEIB teaching sessions for medical students, prize winning DEIB-related posters at state and national conferences, and a DEIB-related NNCI scholarship award. One of our own residents has also been involved as director of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Leadership Program at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

In 2021, the department selected its first “DEIB Champion”, a leadership role within the department to advance diversity and inclusion across the department in areas such as recruitment and retention, education and training, and ensuring an inclusive and welcoming department community. This leader also works to ensure that departmental DEIB efforts are coordinated with those at the medical school and the health system. Lauren Szkodny, PhD currently serves as the department DEIB Champion.

Trainees rotate in a variety of clinical sites spanning both rural and urban locations and care for a diverse group of patients, including veterans. Residents also participate in a resident-founded Transgender Mental Health clinic, as well the Upper Valley Human Rights Clinic in collaboration with Geisel School of Medicine, providing asylum evaluations for refugees. Trainees can also work with un/underinsured populations through a partnership with Good Neighbor Health Clinic, a local free clinic. There are additional opportunities available to work with other underrepresented populations though collaboration with Geisel School of Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement.

The psychiatry department is committed to mental health advocacy and to reducing health care disparities and barriers to access to care for individuals with psychiatric illness. Attention to social determinants of health for rural disadvantaged populations is a key focus of training. Residents frequently engage in mental health advocacy at the state level through the New Hampshire Psychiatric Society and working with state legislators. In order to further this important work, we have added a didactic series on advocacy work that spans all four years of the residency curriculum and culminates in PGY-4 residents’ participation in a yearly Advocacy Day through the New Hampshire Psychiatric Society.

We hope you will consider bringing your own diverse background to our welcoming department!

Please visit the following links for more information about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at Geisel and Dartmouth Health: