Eva Carlson: Residents as DEI Advocates
Originally published in the June 2023 AMCP Foundation Impacts e-newsletter.
By: Eva Carlson, PharmD, PGY1 Managed Care Resident
Residents can educate themselves while helping encourage in their program a culture that values and consciously promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion.
On a recent visit back to my home state of Minnesota, I drove past the George Floyd memorial, just over three years since his death. I reflected on the many changes we have seen since then (and the baffling number of ongoing similarities) including an increase in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within health care. Learning more about the people who are often missing or excluded from consideration has been a longitudinal goal during my residency year, and we as residents can effectively push for change in our organizations.
First and foremost, seek out existing resources for learning. Look within your professional organizations, including your employer and any pharmacy member organizations such as AMCP, as well as locally. We are fortunate at Premera to have a department focused on DEI initiatives for the company, such as the land acknowledgement ceremony for our office campus and departmental DEI workshops. I would also like to recognize our VP of Pharmacy and Clinical Consulting, Dr. Megan McIntyre, for sharing her personal DEI reflections monthly throughout 2022. Her openness and vulnerability made me feel more confident to ask for additional time and resources for this subject.
Second, ask questions about regular work processes. When writing a new drug monograph for a rare disease, what are the specific and unique needs of that patient population? We learned during our rotation with the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) that patient associations, such as Sick Cells, can be extremely valuable resources to understand what is most important to patients and their families during treatment. Whether during regular workflows or as part of interpersonal interactions at work, it’s also important to understand the methods for raising concerns and addressing any inappropriate language or behaviors. Find out who you can talk to, even if it’s just a potential issue and there is room for improvement.
Lastly, feel empowered to create space for discussion and reflection! Whether this is on your own, with your coresident(s) and Residency Program Director, or as an entire pharmacy department, everyone can learn something new regardless of where they are on their DEI journey. Megan organized a session for our P&T Committee members and internal staff to learn from Vibhuti Arya about equity and collective responsibility. Wanting to learn more about specific scenarios, I asked for additional internal department sessions with our Premera Health Plan DEI expert. We covered how to identify and respond to microaggressions, and power dynamics in the preceptor-learner relationship. An important learning from this expert was to establish group expectations and have a clear objective for the session. There will always be discomfort, but that’s the point! Keep an open mind and remember that everyone is at different points in their learning.
DEI is not a residency competency to be “achieved,” but it is a long-term commitment to learn (and unlearn), to reflect, and to continuously improve. Take accountability for your own learning, and don’t be afraid to take the lead, ask questions, and always remember those who we are here to care for as pharmacists.
AMCP Foundation collaborates with Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield to host a four-week rotation each spring, providing a unique experience and perspective on pharmacist careers in association management. Eva served as a 2022-23 resident in the Postgraduate Year One (PGY1) Managed Care Pharmacy Residency at Premera Blue Cross in Seattle, Wash.