Center of Excellence in Health Equity, Training & Research

Baylor College of Medicine continues to build on its long history of educational outreach initiatives with the addition of a Center of Excellence in Health Equity, Training and Research.

Baylor was one of 13 U.S. institutions awarded a Health Resources and Services Administration grant in 2017, and one of only three in Texas.

The five-year, $3.3M grant enables Baylor to promote diversity in medicine by focusing on programs aimed to increase the number of diverse and highly qualified medical professionals ready to introduce effective and innovative approaches to reduce or eliminate health disparities.

These programs will improve information resources, clinical education, curricula, research and cultural competence as they relate to minority health issues and social determinants of health by:

• Collaborating with community partners, including Texas undergraduate institutions, to expand the underrepresented in medicine applicant pool for medical schools.
• Enhancing student academic performance by developing a personalized academic performance plan for Baylor students.
• Enhancing the pathways for recruitment, training and retention of underrepresented in medicine faculty at Baylor College of Medicine through an evolving faculty development program.
• Conducting translational science activities that focus on health disparity issues to increase the cultural competence of Baylor’s medical school graduates.
• Facilitating faculty, fellow and student mentored research on minority health issues, including research in community settings and research that focuses on biologic markers related to social determinants of health.
• Implementing a training program to enhance the capacity of underrepresented in medicine students at Baylor to provide health services to underserved populations at community-based clinics.

The Baylor College of Medicine Center of Excellence in Health Equity, Training and Research seeks to increase the number of diverse and highly qualified medical professionals ready to introduce effective and innovative approaches to reduce or eliminate health disparities. The specific aims of our action plans are:

Collaborate broadly with our community and institutional partners to expand the competitive URM applicant pool for medical schools through the implementation of a “transformed post-baccalaureate premedical” program in our COE.

Enhance student academic performance by incorporating evidence-based learner-centered principles into the development of a personalized academic performance plan for our students.

Optimize the pathways for recruitment, continuous training and retention of URM faculty within our institution through an evolving but rigorous faculty development program.

Conduct translational science activities to improve information resources, the curricula, clinical education, and cultural competence of Baylor’s medical graduates with emphasis on minority health disparity issues.

Facilitate faculty, fellow and student mentored research on minority health issues including research in community settings, health services research and research using Big Data that link social determinants of health to biologic markers.

Implement a multicomponent training program (didactic and experiential modalities) to enhance the capacity of underrepresented minority students at Baylor in providing health services to underserved populations at our community-based clinics.

Provide stipends to support our COE scholars (students, fellows and junior faculty) and to facilitate their participation in our COE program.