Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine has appointed John Dick, III, MED ’03, interim senior associate dean of medical education, and Diana Wu, MD, interim associate dean of diversity and inclusion.
"I am so pleased to begin working more closely with Drs Dick and Wu in these roles within the Geisel administration,” says Dean Duane Compton, PhD. “Their courage to step into these roles under very challenging circumstances created by the pandemic is inspiring to me, and I know that they are enthusiastic about using these leadership positions to make a positive impact on our students and our programs."
Dick, a hospitalist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and assistant professor of medicine and associate dean for clinical education at Geisel, says he is honored to assume the responsibilities of interim senior associate dean of medical education. “I had the good fortune to receive my own undergraduate medical education training at Geisel under the direction of truly outstanding faculty and staff, many of whom are still active in the lives of our current students.
“This position is one of the few at Geisel with an inherently broad focus. Employing a servant leadership style, I hope to attend to the needs of our faculty, staff, and students, and serve this institution that has been so important to my own professional development.
“We are fortunate to have dedicated faculty and staff, excellent clinical affiliates, and a motivated, diverse, and civic-minded student body. Partnering with each other, I’m confident we will continue building on our strengths to consistently improve,” Dick says. “While I still view my primary calling in life as a clinician-educator, partnering with learners in the hospital to provide the best care possible to my patients, I look forward to serving my time as interim senior associate dean of medical education to support, innovate, and continuously improve our various learning environments.”
Wu’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity took root early in her life as a Taiwanese American with immigrant parents. She held an interest and appreciation for her community’s history, but when she had the opportunity to further explore the history and struggles of communities of color and marginalized communities in the U.S. through undergraduate academic study, Wu says, “I came to understand how the past shaped our present institutions and interpersonal interactions, including healthcare and patient-physician relationships.”
An undergraduate leader in multiple student organizations committed to social justice, Wu continued that work throughout her medical training and beyond—giving voice to issues of inequity and oppression by organizing students and trainees. “In the University of California at San Francisco Family and Community Residency Program, I worked with a team who understood that social justice integrated medicine must be at the forefront of care and medical training in order to address healthcare disparities and structural discrimination,” she says. “To this end, we developed an anti-oppression curriculum and workshop on unconscious bias and allyship, which we delivered to over 400 participants, and subsequently published our findings in Family Medicine.”
A family medicine physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and assistant professor of community and family medicine at Geisel, Wu continues her work advancing diverse and inclusive environments.
“I am delighted for this new opportunity as the interim associate dean of diversity and inclusion to invest energy into enhancing the diversity, inclusivity, and equity in the Dartmouth medical community,” Wu says.
“One vital element in training our students to become future medical leaders is to foster their skills in lifelong learning, self-reflection, and critical analysis that are necessary to become culturally humble physicians who provide excellent and equitable care to diverse populations.
“I look forward to bringing a critical theory lens to medical education in order to examine healthcare disparities and dismantle systemic oppression. Along with staff and others committed to this work, I hope to create an environment where students from marginalized backgrounds are mentored and supported, with knowledge that they are assets to our academic community and with pride in their past and present experiences.”
By Susan Green