A Practical Guide to Identifying a Supportive Work Environment for Underrepresented Faculty in Academic Medicine

Much has been added to the literature to better characterize and define the experiences of faculty who are underrepresented in medicine and other health professions. Additions include approaches for faculty development and suggestions for institutions on how to create equitable environments that promote the success and advancement of this group. Despite all these additions to the literature, health professions educators still lack practical approaches to determine supportive academic health center environments that are receptive to their needs and resourced to promote their career success. To the authors’ knowledge, there has not been a paper that uses a validated framework and practical approach to advise underrepresented faculty in the health professions on how to evaluate an academic health system. Adapting criteria used to determine the rigor of qualitative research, the authors propose such an evaluative approach.