Reciprocal EDI Mentoring pilot
As part of our initial work to look at representation among volunteers, we committed to consider how to best strengthen our existing mentoring scheme, while also looking for ways to incorporate reverse mentoring.
In March 2021, Dr Segn Nedd and Dr Bhanu Williams shared a proposal for reciprocal mentoring at the College, and this was developed into the pilot running today. This aims to bring together one individual in a senior volunteer role at the College with one EDI Member Reference Group member, and enable the pair to learn and develop together.
The traditional mentees share their experiences with the traditional mentors. They can each gain understanding of the impact of these experiences on College engagement and professional life. But they can also have specific personal development goals, and they can work collaboratively to advance College understanding of the needs of members from different backgrounds.
The overall aim of this programme is to engage with paediatricians from demographic groups who are underrepresented in College volunteer roles and who currently face barriers, challenges or disadvantage in the professional setting.
Our pairs underwent an induction meeting in February 2022 and have since been meeting on a regular basis. Through the pilot, we want to further refine what the aim of a wider reciprocal mentoring scheme could be and identify the best next steps for the College, and we’ll be evaluating the pilot in October 2022.
If you are interested in taking part in such a scheme in the future, contact us at edi@rcpch.ac.uk.
Removing Barriers
Our very first EDI report back in 2019 had a recommendation to consider how the College might pay childcare costs for members who undertake voluntary roles at the College.
This has evolved into our internal Removing Barriers project: resources to support College staff to help our volunteers and any barriers they may face to engagement, and a pilot fund to assess the long term viability of the College covering care-related costs for members.
Through this project, staff have access to resources to help remove the barriers that the clinicians we work with may be facing, and information on how eligible members can apply for the costs of caring to be covered.
Please reach out to your College staff contact to discuss accessing the pilot care cost fund, or what else we can do to support you. If you aren’t sure of a contact, email us at edi@rcpch.ac.uk.
Sharing the stories of the EDI Member Reference Group
The Member Reference Group aims to provide an avenue for members to input into our EDI work. They comment on current plans and progress, and help to identify future priorities. Members act in an individual capacity, providing valuable feedback and input on the work of the College.
Dr Mike Farquar, Dr Segn Nedd and Dr Nadia Audhali spoke about their experiences of the group on our podcast in summer 2022. And, several other members have written blogs for us:
- Rebecca Jenkins used to fear the judgements of other people, but by the time she started medical school she was more confident - and open to listening to others' experiences of personal discrimination.
- Dr Melanie Ranaweera tells us why paediatricians are "a cornerstone in advocating for a healthier, more equal, diverse and inclusive future for children and young people".
- Dr Sophie Jackson looks at why diversity in paediatrics helps to improve patient care, reflecting on the publication of our reports.
The group currently has over twenty members, but we are keen to bring in the voices of more members who want to be part of this vital work. If you’d be interested to join the group, please email edi@rcpch.ac.uk for more information. All members are welcome!
Differential attainment
One of the biggest priorities outlined in our report, Working Lives of Paediatricians, is to continue to improve the collection of equal opportunities data - to allow meaningful analysis of education and training data and to highlight any possible differential attainment (DA) - and then take appropriate steps to mitigate those differences where possible.
We recognise the importance of sharing information between organisations involved in medical education, and we have shared exam information with the GMC (General Medical Council) through a signed agreement. We have also recently signed a data sharing agreement with HEE (Health Education England) and are continuing to work with them on future developments to share EDI data.
There will be further DA work looking at training outcomes and exam results as part of work between the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the GMC. The Academy and the GMC have said there is an expectation that all Colleges and Faculties should produce a specific action plan on DA by September 2022. We are committed to producing this action plan and know this will include much of the work being undertaken through this workstream. We will keep members up to date on our approach and look forward to providing a further update in winter 2022.
Responding to stakeholder reports
As other organisations continue to work within the EDI space and share updates on their work or their latest findings, it’s important that we reflect as an organisation what this might mean for us. For some external reports, we will share an official College response.
The most recent reports we’ve responded to are:
- British Medical Association, Delivering racial equality in medicine (June 2022) - see College response to BMA report
- GMC's first update on progress towards the equality, diversity and inclusion targets it set last year (March 2022) - see College response to GMC update