Diversity and InclusionAt ACR

by Johnson B. Lightfoote, MD, MBA, FACR

1. Prime the pipeline – Give a talk to medical students, college students, even middle school students from nontraditional backgrounds to share your enthusiasm for the radiological sciences or the STEMM fields in general. Sixth graders love pictures of bones!
   
   
2. Close to the customer – Hold a focus group with women or underrepresented minority patients in your community to understand their take on radiology and radiation oncology. They certainly know a bit about the wondrous imaging care we deliver, but we may not know how much they appreciate our compassionate expertise.
   
   
3. Let me show you how – Become a mentor to a woman or underrepresented minority in your practice, whether paraprofessional, technologist, medical student or budding radiologist. Priceless!
   
   
4. Cultural competency – Think about how well your practice communicates with the wide variety of cultures that you work with daily; make a plan to better understand and improve personal interactions and communication with one specific group.
   
   
5. Get centered – Are diversity and inclusion at the core of your practice’s mission? Should they be? Not every practice needs a strategic plan, but if you have one, think about how it serves your future and your stakeholders.
   
   
6. Lead by example – When fellow radiologists, customer clinicians and administrators see us radiologists and radiation oncologists taking the lead in advancing diversity and inclusion, we earn their admiration and invite emulation.
   
   
7. Walk a mile in my shoes – Take a look at an interaction (contentious or compassionate) between professionals or patients and imagine how you’d react if you were one of the participants.
   
   
8. Take your show on the road – Visit civic groups, churches, city council or volunteer organizations and let them know not just about your high technology, but about the diversity and service commitment of the people in your practice.
   
   
9. Mind the gap – Is there a disparity in the care your women, LGBT or minority patients receive? Is there a gap between your practice’s aspirations for inclusiveness and the actual representation of underrepresented minorities and women in your group? Finding and minding the gap will invite solutions.
   
   
10. Take your own pulse – How do people in your practice appreciate the inclusiveness and diversity of our working environment? Invite frequent meetings of your group to discover how your most important assets think about how welcoming your practice really is.
    
    
11. Movin’ on up – Professional advancement is a great way to enhance an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion. Make sure you’re offering leadership and development opportunities to everyone (radiologists, radiation oncologists and paraprofessionals alike) in your organization; remember that women and underrepresented minorities are often underspoken or overlooked.
    
    
12. Exploit diversity – Unique talents and diverse needs can be exploited to great advantage in areas such as working hours, working locations, fractional employment, specialty differentiation, customer service. Welcome, leverage and creatively exploit the diverse professional capacities of your team. Enjoy the resulting return to your bottom line.