Announcement of my departure from the Georgetown University School of Medicine

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." - Robert Louis Stevens

Today marks a significant milestone in my journey that I’d like to share with you. After an incredible nearly 9-year tenure, I am bidding farewell to Georgetown University School of Medicine .

It has always been a dream of mine to go into higher education. Serving as the inaugural Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, that dream came true for me. In 2015, I founded the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (ODEIB), which now has become a central component across the medical school and medical center.

Each day since my start date, I've reminded myself of the opportunity to make great impact with the privilege of holding the title of "Dean Cheng" amongst my beloved community of students, faculty and staff. For me, the ability to cultivate the next generation of physicians who bring cultural humility, empathy, and care centered on the patient, all the while mitigating the harm of biases, stigmas, and microaggressions, has been a foremost focus as we deliver on our school's ethos of "Cura Personalis" or care of the whole person

Early on in my tenure, I established a comprehensive strategic school-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion plan, which passed national LCME accreditation in 2019.?I also prioritized fostering student success as a Preclinical Advisor and directing the Cultural Competencies Journeys series in our medical education, focused on cultivating cultural humility in patient care.?I formed the Council on Diversity Affairs and championed campaigns promoting specialty respect, mitigating microaggressions in medicine, cultivating a sense of belonging in medical school, and building community through the Day in the Life spotlights. It's been a honor to serve on the Georgetown University and MedStar Health Steering Committee of the Respect in the Learning Environment Initiative.

In my deanship, I've advocated for medical students in many notable capacities, including serving as deputy Title IX coordinator for seven years, mind-body medicine facilitator, student wellness task force member, and serving on admissions and scholarship committees. In the summer of 2020, I catalyzed the formation of the Racial Justice Committee for Change (RJCC) in response to an open letter to administrators authored and signed by over 500 dedicated medical students and alumni of GUSOM.

As a leader who personally benefited from participating in pathway programs in high school and college that opened up my eyes to opportunities in STEM and research, I am grateful in my career to have paid it forward to future generations of young leaders to go into medicine and healthcare careers. I am proud of my committed and visionary ODEIB team, which over the years, has designed, created and implemented a slate of high-impact, pre-health pathway programs: the Gateway Exploration Program (GEP) for DC Public Schools students, the Academy for Research, Clinical, Health Equity Scholarship (ARCHES), and the Cultivating Opportunity Realizing Excellence (CORE) program, supporting nearly 300 high school and college students pursuing their healthcare and medical research career aspirations. It has been a privilege to oversee the Georgetown Experimental Medical Studies (GEMS) Program, ensuring its continued reputation as a preeminent post-baccalaureate program.?

One of the highlights of my tenure has been a collaborative focus on faculty development, which has been crucial to advancing equitable and inclusive learning environments across the Georgetown University Medical Center . In partnership with the Associate Dean for Faculty Development, I co-founded the Faculty Diversity & Inclusion (FDI) Subcommittee and partnered with the Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship to form the Teaching for Inclusion & Equity (TIE) Series and most recently co-launched the Equity Forward Faculty Initiative under the new Center for Health Equity at Georgetown. I also co-founded the Bias Reduction Improvement Coaching Program (BRIC), which has trained nearly 60 faculty and staff coaches across the medical center and university.

In my broader service to 美国乔治敦大学 I've proudly served as elected Faculty Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the inaugural Georgetown University Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group and have taught in the Mastering the Hidden Curriculum Course for first-generation and low-income college students with the Georgetown Scholars Program .

On my last day, I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to my community of medical students, faculty collaborators, colleagues, teammates, and friends, all who inspired me daily with their unwavering commitment to advancing health equity and opportunities to diversify the medical profession to reflect the diverse patients that we serve.

Before signing off, I wanted to express my deepest gratitude to:

• Stephen Ray Mitchell, MD, MBA, FAAP,FACR, MACP, FRCP for advocating for innovation and culture change at the medical school, championing our Build & Belong campaign with my first-ever CIRCLE Grant, and extending the life-changing job offer to hire me and join his cabinet of senior deans in 2015.
• Michelle Roett, MD, MPH , Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, and MY awe-inspiring, trailblazing Chair, who has given me every level of support, mentorship, colleagueship to advance my faculty path at Georgetown through my scholarship and research.
• Dr. David L. Taylor, DHA, MEd , for being the best colleague, mentor, and collaborator in the DEIB world and in higher ed since Day 1, and instilling within me always an appreciation for the power of optimism, leaning into learning, exhibiting servant-leadership, and knowing oneself.
• Kristi Graves , my go-to collaborator in all things faculty development, who co-launched the Bias Reduction Improvement Coaching Program with me, and made the inspiring work even more meaningful and fun because I got a chance to work alongside her and learn from her brilliance, kindness and her mentorship around research publication.
• My talented, brilliant, driven and committed co-workers (past and present) in the ODEIB Family who have grown the office with love, delivered high quality programs and have always been there for our students, faculty and staff. Thank you Samantha McLaughlin , Samuel Chan , Isela Melendez-Carpio, M.Ed. Alisha G. , Saniya Rao for being my A-Team in forging this new office throughout the years.

And last but not least, my sincere appreciation to my Georgetown colleagues from across the university, medical school and medical center. It has been my greatest privilege to collaborate, innovate and execute programs and initiatives that allowed us to support our students and to get us closer to our cherished Georgetown University values of Cura Personalis, striving for Community in Diversity and acting on a Faith that Does Justice. I have been so lucky to have been surrounded by your talent and your dedication as I have learned from you and grown as a Dean.

I look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.

#gratitude #pathwaystomedicine #thankyouGeorgetown #hoyasaxa #newdirections #newopportunities #newchapter