Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our purpose is to create an academic health care community where every member is respected and valued. The Medical University of South Carolina is committed to leveraging differences in ways that allow people to understand and be understood, all while working together productively to change what is possible.
Inspired by the mission and values of the university, diversity and inclusion is an integral part of the fabric of the MUSC family. These values are at the core of the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan’s foundation of introspection, awareness, understanding, and mutual respect.
“We are committed to creating an inclusive experience for the lives we touch.”
Dr. David J. Cole, President of MUSC
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Embracing Diversity
Creating an inclusive experience for the lives we touch at MUSC.
Why Are We So Committed?
It’s the right thing to do. Whether providing patient care, educating students, or making new research discoveries, we must ensure that all who touch MUSC in some way feel like they are in the right place and that they belong.
Diversity promotes a healthy bottom-line. Numerous studies and national leaders have definitively made the case for diversity and inclusion – organizations with robust diversity and inclusion cultures generate more revenue and are better able to execute and innovate around the services they provide.
Diversity and inclusion breeds innovation, and innovation is the key to better health care. The more variations in opinions, ideas, expertise, education, culture, and background, the more flexible, effective, and accurate we become as an academic medical center and biomedical research leader in an ever-evolving industry.
Our Recent Strides in Diversity & Inclusion
Forbes named the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to its list of “America’s 2018 Best Employers for Diversity.” Ranked #53 out of 250 organizations, MUSC is in the company of brand giants like Google, Starbucks, Walt Disney, The Smithsonian Institute, Harvard University, and Procter & Gamble among many others.
MUSC is on track to spend $52 million with small, women- and minority-owned businesses during construction on the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion, and will spend $13 million with African-American-owned businesses in phases 1 and 2 of construction.
The American Association of Medical Colleges ranks MUSC in the 97th percentile for medical schools with the most African-American graduates and in the 95th percentile for medical schools preparing physicians to care for patients of different backgrounds.
In less than two years, the percentage of African-American nurses employed by MUSC Health has increased by 7 percent to 11.2 percent.
All six MUSC colleges have diversity officers to help identify key opportunities for building a strong climate of inclusion on campus.
All new faculty, staff, and students participate in mandatory diversity and inclusion training. 100 percent of leaders at MUSC Health completed at least four hours of diversity and inclusion training in the last year including courses in managing a diverse workforce and unconscious bias.
Enterprise-wide, there is a four-hour diversity training requirement for students, administrators, and other faculty and hospital leaders. All first-year students participate in a seminar to satisfy this requirement.
The number of diversity and inclusion education opportunities, in-person/classroom and webinars offered by MUSC has increased by 54 percent, with the number of program participants increasing by 36 percent.
The Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program in MUSC’s College of Graduate Studies recruits diverse students to the biomedical sciences to better address and reduce health disparities.
The Minorities in Medicine program is a partnership with College of Charleston that brings mentors and other resources to prospective underrepresented minority medical students.
In 2016, MUSC supported 23 projects to help recruit underrepresented minorities into health professions and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights advocacy group, named MUSC Health to its 2016 LGBTQ Health care Equality Index report, recognizing its leadership in providing equitable and inclusive care.
The DIAL program allows patients who speak Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Portuguese or French to order meals in their native language.
Kids Eat Free at MUSC has served 13,000 meals to children at risk of going hungry over summer break since launching the program in 2015.
MUSC hosted the “Inclusion to Innovation Summit: Diverse Pathways to Organizational Excellence” in November 2017.
MUSC students donate approximately 16,000 hours of volunteer service to our community every year. Since 1993, more than 9,500 MUSC students donated 330,000 hours to 125 local organizations. At today’s value of $23.07 for every volunteer hour, that’s more than $7.6 million that MUSC students have given back to Charleston.
MUSC scientists are giving aspiring scientists, including a large contingent from Burke High School in Charleston, a professional perspective on what research is all about through an extensive, hands-on summer internship.
An MUSC faculty member launched the first Charleston chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), which is the first professional chapter of the group in the nation. The chapter is also the first to incorporate multiple organizations and institutions located throughout a professional community.