As an organization, MBKU supports the health of the public by training future health care leaders. This cannot be done fully or effectively without acknowledging the social and societal context in which we exist as an institution, and as people who, work, learn and serve the institution. The experiences, both historical and contemporary that contribute to the current state of our population’s health, namely the vast health disparities seen predominantly in communities that are marginalized must be acknowledged in order to forge a better path toward health equity.
As a health care provider and educational institution, we recognize the impact we can have on improving health by taking responsibility for our actions toward racial justice and health equity. We continue to strategize and develop our understanding of what it means to be an inclusive and anti-racist community of learners. In June of 2020 the position of Assistant Vice President for Diversity Equity and Inclusion was established and together with, administrative and community support, a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee comprised of stakeholders from across campus and departments was formed to create a strategic plan determining our priorities, both immediate and ongoing, in this work. We have made progress on our strategic plan and in 2022 MBKU established the Center for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility. The mission of the IDEA Center is to champion the priorities set forth by our strategic plan and university mission to educate caring, inspired health care professionals who are prepared to deliver collaborative, patient-centric health care in an interprofessional environment.