Practical Tips for Creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee: Experience From a Multicenter, Academic Radiology Department

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 and the publicly documented deaths of countless Black individuals have highlighted the need to confront systemic racism, address racial/ethnic disparities, and improve diversity and inclusion in radiology. Several radiology departments have begun to create diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) committees to systematically address DEI issues in radiology. However, there are few articles that provide departments with guidance on how to create DEI committees to comprehensively address DEI issues in radiology. The purpose of this review is to provide readers with a framework and practical tips for creating a comprehensive, institutionally aligned radiology DEI committee.

Methods: The authors describe key components of the strategic planning process and lessons learned in the creation of a radiology DEI committee, on the basis of the experience of an integrated, academic northeastern radiology department.

Results: A hospital-based strategic planning process defining the DEI vision, mission, goals, and strategies was used to inform the formation of the radiology department DEI committee. The radiology department performed gap analyses by conducting internal and external research. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analyses were performed on the basis of consultations with institutional and other departmental DEI leaders as well as DEI leaders from other academic medical centers. This framework served as the basis for the creation of the radiology departmental DEI committee, including a steering committee and four task forces (education, research, patient experience, and workforce development), each charged with addressing specific institutional goals and strategies.

Conclusions: This review provides academic radiology departments with a blueprint to create a comprehensive, institutionally aligned radiology DEI committee.