Creating opportunities to engage with prospective historically marginalized trainees with clinical simulation.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Diversity and Inclusion in Medicine
• Clinical Simulation

Background:

• Recruiting diverse medical trainees is challenging, especially for institutions in less diverse regions.
• Predominantly white institutions face unique hurdles in attracting racially and ethnically diverse students and faculty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the SiMfest clinical simulation program for recruiting house officers from historically marginalized populations.
• To demonstrate institutional commitment to high-quality education and enhancing diversity in academic medicine.

Main Methods:

• Developed and implemented SiMfest, a novel clinical simulation program.
• SiMfest sessions were annual events (2017-2019) at the Student National Medical Association Annual Medical Education Conference.
• The program involved collaboration between the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, institutional leadership, and clinical department chairs.

Main Results:

• Over 800 students participated in SiMfest across three years.
• The majority of participants (382) identified with racial categories historically marginalized in medicine, primarily African American or Black.
• Over 80% of participants would recommend SiMfest; many reported exposure to new specialties and gained insights into diversity initiatives.

Conclusions:

• SiMfest effectively connected marginalized students with institutional resources and leadership, fostering mutual learning and experiential education.
• The program highlights the potential of leveraging institutional strengths to create innovative recruitment strategies.
• SiMfest serves as a scalable model for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic medicine.