Diversity and Inclusion has become an increasingly dominant part of everyday discussion. This need for action comes on the tails of increasing public outcry with recent events and tragedies in the country. However, discrimination, whether it be based on race, sex, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected class, has been prevalent for years in both overt and covert ways. 

Because of the growing need for awareness and education, we have formed a collaboration and are conducting a quarterly development series by the Departments of Surgery, Otolaryngology, and Plastic Surgery to address and discuss these issues with the goals of becoming more well-rounded departments that foster an environment in which everyone feels included and allowed to thrive. 

In part I of this series, we provided a snapshot of the current climate with the general, otolaryngology and plastic surgery departments as it relates to diversity and inclusion and determined that there are multiple areas for improvement including enhancing diversity of faculty/trainees and increasing awareness of the negative effects of microaggressions/implicit bias on the experiences of faculty/trainees. Part II, focused on building an inclusive environment by high lighting factors that lead to lack of inclusion and sharing practical tools/suggestions as well as engaging in discussion to foster inclusivity across our departments at all levels. Part III will explore barriers to diversity and strategies for overcoming them.