Michigan Medicine prioritizes belonging through implicit bias training

Building Toward Belonging: Implicit Bias Training is the first in a series of mandatory trainings on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. This is the initial step in educating the Michigan Medicine community on why inclusion matters, identifying key allyship behaviors that reduce the influence of implicit bias in decision-making and integrating strategies for mitigating bias in our daily work. 

Facilitators from the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion have been leading the Building Toward Belonging: Implicit Bias Training since April, and in three short months, more than 7,000 of the Leaders and Best have participated in this learning opportunity.  

Over 90% of the participants report learning at least one strategy for reducing implicit bias in the work that they do.  

The course meets new guidelines of the mandatory LARA Implicit Bias Training while also supporting the organization’s BASE strategic priority of Belonging and the Michigan Medicine strategic initiative of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

“Creating a culture of belonging and inclusion entails a much longer journey than this one-hour training,” said Kristen Howard, senior director of the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion. “What we are demonstrating here is Michigan Medicine’s commitment to enacting lasting structural changes that will truly transform the way we deliver care and services, while also advancing our mission toward health equity.” 

Sessions of the Building Toward Belonging: Implicit Bias Training are available now for all Michigan Medicine faculty, staff and learners.

They are held virtually, both as open sessions and upon unit requests.

To register for virtual open sessions, please visit MyLinc. To request an in-person or virtual training for your team of 50 participants or more, please submit a Unit Request Form. 

In an effort to promote community-based collaborations and to strengthen cross-sector partnerships, Michigan Medicine will offer a limited number of public sessions of Building Toward Belonging for health care professionals outside of U-M. These 1-hour fee-based offerings launch this month.

For a list of community offerings and information on how to register for these sessions please click on this link here.  

If you have any other questions about Building Toward Belonging: Implicit Bias Training, please feel free to email OHEI-Training@med.umich.edu.