About
The Precision Equity and Social Justice Office (PESJO) aims to build the bridges to a respectful, fair and inclusive community
Vision:
The Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) embodies a culture of equity, accessibility, and authentic belonging; free from all forms of racism and oppression.
Mission:
PESJO serves as a centralized equity, diversity, inclusion, acceptance (EDIA) resource for the CSM to dismantle oppressive learning and health systems, and to achieve social justice. We meaningfully engage with our community, applying a Precision Equity approach to support the delivery of targeted and tailored interventions.
Values:
Relationality that is mutual, reciprocal, and sustained.
Authentic inclusivity that shifts power structures and fuels co-creation and bold innovation.
Critical praxis that is informed by both data and lived experience.
Accountability grounded in community connection.
What is Precision Equity?
Where precision medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine represents a unique approach to healthcare delivery, precision equity represents a novel and disruptive systems-approach to dismantling oppression and achieving equity and authentic inclusion.
As a concept put forth by Dr. Kannin Osei-Tutu (senior associate dean, Health Equity and Systems Transformation), precision equity is an approach that involves:
- targeted needs assessments of structurally marginalized groups
- implementation of evidence-based solutions, tailored to address unique needs and barriers
- scholarly evaluation of metrics, key performance indicators, outcomes and impact
Priorities and Activities
PESJO aims to create a culture of authentic inclusion within the CSM by dismantling forms of oppression; specifically our target priorities of racism, gender inequity, ableism, class oppression, and sexual identity oppression. We recognize that none of these forms of oppression exist in isolation. Therefore, we apply an intersectional lens to serve our community.
Guided by collaboration, evaluation, and scholarship, the following are a list of PESJO activities that support our priorities.
Our Commitments
The Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) is formally committed to:
ii'taa'poh'to'p Strategy, The University of Calgary's Indigenous strategy
Cumming School of Medicine Diversity Statement
CSM Strategic Plan, which highlights EDI components amongst other priorities
Scarborough Charter, a commitment by Canadian institutions to combat anti-Black racism and foster Black inclusion in higher education
Dimensions Program, which addresses barriers and discrimination equity-deserving groups encounter in research fields
Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) EDI Action plan
Declaration On Research Assessment (DORA), a global initiative to encourage best practice in evaluation of resesarchers and scholarly research output.
Okanagan Charter, a commitment to health and well-being in the policies and practices of post-secondary institutions
Campus Mental Health Strategy, which includes a commitment to a campus culture where all community members are supported, valued, included, connected, and flourishing
Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) Joint Commitment to action, a roadmap for Canadian medical schools to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation commission Calls to Action
Black Medical students Association (BMSA) Calgary: Calls to action and List of Recommendations to Canadian Faculties of Medicine, which outlines actions to combat institutionalized racism in medical education and health care