Las Cruces, NM – The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine received the 2023 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. This is the second year Burrell has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient.
“It is a tremendous honor to be nationally recognized for excellence in diversity and inclusion for the second consecutive year. We are thankful to Insight to Diversity for designating our school as a 2023 Health Professional School HEED Award Recipient. We strive to continuously demonstrate meaningful equitable, and inclusive best practices throughout our campus learning and work environments. We do so with cultural competence and humility at the forefront to serve as a constant orientation, not a destination” said, Burrell’s Chief Diversity Officer, Erica Hughey.
Among our nation’s 204 medical schools, 155 Doctor of Medicine (MD) and 49 Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO); only 24 (12%) received the 2023 HEED Award for Health Professions.
John Hummer, President of Burrell, said, “We are honored to have once again received this national recognition. One shining example of our commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive environment is our student-initiated program called JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion). This program creates a quantifiable structure for students to participate in JEDI related initiatives. JEDI, under the leadership of Alberto Velasco, third-year student doctor, received the 2023 Individual DEI Unification Award from the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) during the national OMED 2023 conference and is being adopted by other medical schools across the nation.”
Student doctor Velasco added, “JEDI hours are where students can go through DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) trainings, discussions, and documentary viewings of different cultural settings, personal identities within a healthcare or community setting, and log hours through Track-It- Forward. We also believe this program will support our underrepresented student groups by promoting their events so that the student body can be more involved with DEI initiatives as a whole.”
As a recipient of the annual Health Professions HEED Award, a national honor recognizing U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine will be featured in the November/December 2023 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine.
“I am proud of our faculty, staff, and students for their passion for DEI as evidenced by this HEED Award. Our new Mission Medicine curriculum will further demonstrate our mission to provide a more diverse workforce, training our students in a community-based learning environment, in collaboration with our local health and social service programs, as another tangible commitment to engaging with and providing for our community,” concluded Burrell’s Dean & Chief Academic Officer and Executive Vice President of Academic Services, William Pieratt, DO, FACP.
About Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine:
The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine was established in 2013 to improve the health of the Southwestern U.S. and its border with Northern Mexico. The four-year, private osteopathic medical school is student-centered, utilizing the latest medical education technologies and methods to ensure student success in all fields of medicine — from primary care to subspecialties like surgery, anesthesiology, and emergency medicine. The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine is a freestanding college with two campuses, Las Cruces New Mexico and Melbourne, Florida; and clinical training locations in El Paso (TX), Rockledge (FL), and Tucson (AZ).
Learn more at burrell.edu.
