The mental health workforce in the United States has long faced a disproportionate lack of diversity compared to the patients it treats. According to a 2014 study, 21% of psychiatrists identify as being from a racial or ethnic minority group compared to 37% of Americans who identified as nonwhite in the 2012 census. A lack of diversity and cultural competence can lead to misdiagnosis, dropping out of treatment and a longer time to achieve recovery.

The UW Psychiatry Diversity Visiting Medical Student Subinternship Program is working to close this diversity gap within its own walls. The program brings fourth-year medical students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to Seattle for a four week advanced rotation in psychiatry at Harborview Medical Center or Seattle Children’s Hospital. The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the diversity of psychiatry residents at UW and in the larger mental health workforce.

Twelve students have participated in the program since it started in 2015, joining us from all over the country and bringing perspectives from many different backgrounds. The last two students for the 2017-2018 academic year just finished their rotation: medical students Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo (UC Davis) and Jenny Tan (University of Kentucky) were with us September 25-October 20. They both did inpatient psychiatry subinternship rotations at Harborview, enjoyed meeting many of us, and wound up becoming good friends.