Faculty Focus Groups

Faculty Focus Groups – BIPOC Student Experiences

July 1, 2022

The Office of Rural Programs (ORP) is invested in creating challenging but safe learning spaces for all students.   Last year, we spoke with several BIPOC students about their lived experiences with microaggressions and, at times, overt racism in today’s polarized society.  As part of these conversations, students discussed the importance of having someone at their clinical teaching sites who they trust and can rely on for support.

This year, ORP is working with a McKinstry funded, Gonzaga University (GU)/UWSOM partnership study to explore how we can best prepare our preceptors to support and be aware of unique needs of our BIPOC students.  To date, ORP research team members have conducted five focus group interviews with experienced site faculty and administrators from across WWAMI.  Participants have shared strategies they have used to fostering resilience among our students. They have also discussed ways they have engaged students in important conversations about race and racism in medicine

Our hope is that we can have preceptors and students readily appreciate that there are sometimes significant differences in their lived experiences and that these differences can be celebrated and used to build better scaffolding to provide excellent medical care to all patients.

How site faculty and preceptors can get join this study:

Interviews or focus groups will likely be about an hour in length and are being scheduled to September 2022.    We are hoping you would consider being part of one of these focus groups or interviews, either in person or over Zoom.  If so, please enter your contact information here.  We will reach out to you with more information.

Please contact Toby Keys, keyst@uw.edu, with any questions.