In July 2022, health professionals from across the U.S. gathered in Chicago for the annual Mayo Clinic RISE for Equity conference — an event that aims to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in health care. We caught up with some of the over 400 attendees to get a sense of why they came and what they were learning.
We asked attendees to give us one word to describe the state of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in health care — or failing that, a few words.
The consensus: It’s improving — but not good enough yet.
“In progress.”
“Room for improvement.”
“State of opportunity.”
“Obligatory.”
“Not enough, but it’s expanding.”
“Cautious optimism.”
“Progress, especially after participating in RISE. Progress is the word. I wouldn’t have used that on Wednesday when I arrived.” — Vincent Anani
“Action is needed right now. I think we have the right level of energy; we have the sponsorship and support from the top with the $100 million (commitment). … But then that in turn means that all of us have to take action, right? It isn’t something that’s going to happen if we just sit back and think that the dollars are going to do it or the programs are going to do it.” — Asif Hossain, M.S.
Read more about what the attendees had to say:
