Fostering a culture of health equity within an academic medical center: evaluation of a research symposium

Academic medical centers have increasingly recognized their responsibility to health equity, but there is a limited evidence base for institutional interventions advancing health equity research. The research team conducted an evaluation to understand the impact of the University of Rochester Department of Medicine Research in Health Equity Symposium (Symposium) on professional development, knowledge of health equity research, and institutional culture of health equity. This cross-sectional mixed-methods survey study included past Symposium presenters from 2022 to 2026. Participants included faculty, staff, trainees, and community members. A 19-item survey assessed the perceived impact of the Symposium on professional development, health equity knowledge, and institutional culture, in addition to most beneficial aspects and suggestions for future years. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize survey responses. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical and checkbox items. Qualitative analyses of open-text responses identified major and minor themes and were analyzed in the context of quantitative findings. Of the 169 email invitations sent, 27 invitations were returned as undeliverable, yielding 142 deliverable invitations. The primary analytic sample included 42 respondents, depending on the survey item. Respondents represented all four years of the Symposium and presenter types. The majority were University of Rochester faculty, staff, students, or trainees ( n = 36, 85.7%) with faculty representing the largest role group ( n = 22, 52.3%). Across the three primary domains, respondents reported high percentages of agreement: 85.7% agreed or strongly agreed the Symposium contributed to their professional development, 95.2% agreed or strongly agreed the Symposium increased their knowledge of health equity, and 97.6% agreed or strongly agreed the Symposium contributed to an institutional culture of health equity. Qualitative themes included shared goals and responsibility, growing knowledge, skills, and networks, and addressing barriers and knowledge gaps. The findings suggest that the impact of the Symposium likely extends beyond the educational outcomes of each annual occurrence to provide professional development for researchers and cultivate an institutional culture of health equity.