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: “What brought you to RISE?”
Some recognized the RISE conference as a source of information they wouldn’t get anywhere else.
“The topics that are being talked about are incredibly on the edge of innovation in terms of what the cultural knowledge base is.” — Alfredo Cerrato
“Every time I come here I learn something new. … Even being with Mayo Clinic, I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn’t know we did that.’ It just opens up your mind to all the great work Mayo Clinic is doing in this space.” — Sarah Dhanorker
Many were looking for strategies and tools they could apply to their own work.
“I’m very involved in the community in trying to understand how to create a platform for black trainees, specifically, to feel welcome in the Rochester area when they come study at Mayo. … How can we find strategies and methods and learn from other people’s experiences well about a better way to just create that platform where people feel welcome?” — Vincent Anani
“I’m the medical director at a Student Health Service at the University of Chicago, a very diverse population of students as well as employees. We’re situated in the south side of Chicago. The university has made a tremendous commitment to the community to honor race, equity and diversity. And I’m here to learn some of the tools that could apply in our little clinic as well as across the university.” — Richard McDonough, M.D.
Others were looking for a different type of conference — and found it.
“It’s very different than the type of health care conferences I normally attend. In a good way.” — Shawn Dutchin, M.A.
“I’ve been looking for conferences where I’ll feel included, because I’ve gone to tons of medical conferences. … This is the first conference I’ve seen more than five (nonwhite people).” — Elice Tiegs
“Everyone that came back last year just said it was life-changing. They didn’t give specifics. They just said, ‘You won’t be the same.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, I want to be a part of it.’ ” — Shavogne Morgan, M.H.A.
Read more about what the attendees had to say:
