Dear Members of the HMS Community:
Harvard Medical School is a community of thousands of learners, healers, researchers, and problem-solvers. We celebrate and nurture this complex interplay. Each of us is a multifaceted admixture of diverse experiences and attributes, and we each bring a unique perspective that enriches Harvard and one another.
We are also navigating in an ever-morphing environment that requires frequent adaptation. Please know that HMS will always prioritize a supportive, healthy, and secure environment for all. Chief Community and Campus Life Officer Sherri Charleston’s recent University-wide message reflects Harvard’s ideals and priorities, and it reinforces much of the work HMS has been doing all along.
In alignment with that approach, I am writing to share some updates. First, our HMS Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership has adopted a new name — the Office for Culture and Community Engagement (OCCE) — to better reflect its work going forward. Under the continued visionary leadership of Dr. Joan Reede, OCCE will continue with two main focus areas: 1) providing opportunity and access to help individuals thrive and 2) collaboration and community-building. You can visit the new OCCE website and additional content will be added over the coming weeks. Importantly, OCCE’s events and programming will continue to support the mission and values of HMS and Harvard, and collaboration with colleagues across the Longwood Medical Area will also continue.
Second, as the Office of Student Affairs in our Program in Medical Education undergoes changes in leadership, the functions and scope of the Office for Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs (ORMA) will also evolve. ORMA, which focuses on medical students and is distinct from but allied with OCCE, was founded by the late Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who created a pioneering system of student support and inclusive community-building. Building on Dr. Poussaint’s legacy, this important work will now continue in a fully integrated way within OSA. The two main aims will be to: 1) provide support to individual students who seek out additional help in order to thrive within our HMS ecosystem and 2) bring together the collective medical student community by encouraging and providing spaces for students to convene to have dialogue across differences and learn from one another. The PME website will be updated to reflect these changes.
Beyond student affairs, our medical education curriculum will continue to cultivate the six core competencies required for graduation from HMS: medical knowledge, patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, adaptive critical thinking and learning, professionalism, and health equity and the structural systems through which health care is delivered. All HMS graduates must continue to learn the scientific and medical evidence underpinning differences in health and health care so that as future doctors they can help address the pervasive disparities present in our society.
Lastly, it is important that we periodically revisit the principles and statements that guide our community and our values. Consistent with how these were developed initially, we are forming a committee comprising a cross section of our community to review and recommend updates. Any changes will be announced following the completion of the committee’s work.
In closing, I hope it is abundantly clear that while we continue to adapt to the ever-evolving national landscape, Harvard Medical School’s longstanding commitment to culture and community will never waver.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University