Department Values Statement

Our Values 

As members of the UC San Diego Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, we are proudly committed to cultivating a community that fosters belonging for all individuals while advancing reproductive health justice for our patients, learners, colleagues, and communities. This statement affirms our dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice in all aspects of our work—clinical care, education, research, and community partnerships. 

We value and respect diverse identities, including but not limited to ability, age, ancestry, carceral status, ethnicity, family status, gender expression, immigration status, language, military experience, race, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. We recognize that intersecting identities amplify inequities, and we are committed to challenging the structures and norms that perpetuate harm. 

Recognizing Systemic Injustice 

We acknowledge the historical and persistent impact of systemic inequities, including racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination, on our specialty and the communities we serve. Specifically: 

• Acts of racism, hate, and exclusion remain pervasive in our society and have harmful effects on our trainees, faculty, staff, patients, and communities. 
• Race is not a biologic determinant; it is socially constructed. Racism—not race—affects health care and health outcomes. 
• Foundational OB/GYN knowledge was built, in part, through inhumane experimentation on Black women and other marginalized groups. 
• Interpersonal, systemic, and institutional racism, through intentional or unintentional acts, exist in our health care institutions. 
• Unethical, coerced, and involuntary medical surgeries, experiments, and treatments continue to disproportionately harm incarcerated individuals and communities facing injustice. 

Our Commitments 

To our patients and families, learners and trainees, colleagues, and communities, we make the following commitments to foster accountability and action, advance education and training, advance health equity, partner with communities, and build a culture of belonging and justice: 

• We will not tolerate racism, hate, sexism, or discrimination in our clinical, learning, research, and administrative spaces.
• We commit to examining and addressing unconscious and conscious biases in ourselves.
• We commit to speaking out against discrimination, hate, and racist incidents whenever they occur.
• We commit to advancing equity through education, including:
  • Culture and Justice Grand Rounds
  • Required and ongoing implicit bias training
  • Education that integrates equity across curricula for trainees, faculty, and staff
• We commit to adopting and implementing policies and practices that improve outcomes, eliminate healthcare inequities, and address preventable disparities.
• We commit to using equity-focused metrics and disaggregated data to identify and address gaps in care.
• We commit to fostering and supporting research collaborations that address health inequities and injustice.
• We commit to transparently reporting progress, challenges, and outcomes to uphold accountability in advancing health equity and justice.
• We commit to challenging norms and systems that marginalize individuals and ensuring all department members feel valued, supported, and empowered to advance in their careers.
• We commit to providing financial support to the Culture and Justice Quorum and its mission areas.
• We commit to partnering with our communities to promote justice and healing.
• We commit to continuously reflecting on our growth and progress as we move forward together.

Our Ongoing Journey 

We stand together in this commitment to champion equity and justice.