Guest article by Anna Heffron, MD, PhD
Anna Heffron, MD, PhD
Amber Sheth
This past May brought a transition in our Wisconsin Medical Society’s (WisMed) Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Task Force. While I am saddened to be leaving my role as Co-Chair of the JEDI Task Force, I am delighted to introduce the incoming Co-Chair, Amber Sheth. Amber is a rising fourth-year medical student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She has had extensive experience working in spaces oriented toward justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and I am thrilled to see where the WisMed JEDI Task Force goes under her leadership.
Amber will lead alongside Ridhwi Mukerji, MD, FACP, with whom I served as Co-Chair over the past year, and whose leadership, enthusiasm and experience has likewise been invaluable. We are grateful for the involvement of staff, particularly Stephanie Taylor, Elizabeth Ringle and Marje Murray, over the past year. We also wanted to give a shout-out to graduating students, residents and fellows who will no longer be serving on the Task Force as they are moving to different states: Andre Obua, MD, Andrew Huang, MD, Michael McNamara, MD, Taylor Boland Rigby, MD, and Shannon Tai, MD.
The JEDI Task Force was formed by the directive of WisMed policy PUB-049, Racism as a Public Health Crisis in Wisconsin, adopted by our WisMed House of Delegates in August 2020. The Task Force created, distributed and is analyzing data from a survey to Wisconsin physicians and medical students regarding equity and discrimination within WisMed and Wisconsin medical practice, and the Task Force looks forward to presenting these results to the Wisconsin Medical Society. The Task Force is preparing Continuing Medical Education for WisMed membership and centralizing resources for members to use. The Task Force mission and objectives are described on the WisMed website.
It has been a true honor to co-lead this task force, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude to its members. Members of the Task Force have been exemplary in their enthusiasm and diligence for making WisMed and Wisconsin medicine as a whole more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive. I was humbled to be able to help start this work with the JEDI Task Force, and I very much look forward to seeing its next directions.
For any members interested in joining the JEDI Task Force, please contact membership@wismed.org with inquiries or a statement of your interest. As the Task Force continues its work, we certainly need many hands and heads willing and able to contribute to these efforts. Physicians and trainees from marginalized backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.
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