Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Tony Chen, MD
Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Clinical Assistant Professor of Urology
Welcome to the Department of Urology at Stanford University School of Medicine Diversity, Equity and Inclusion webpage! As a department, we are passionate about providing an inclusive academic environment that values diversity of thought, prioritizes respectful and supportive work environments and also promotes professionalism and mutual respect for individuals from different backgrounds (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, LGBTQ, SES, 1st generation, and disabilities).
We are honored to have the opportunity to train the best and brightest residents, fellows, medical students and post-doctoral fellows in the world. As the future leaders in our field, we want to ensure that our trainees are prepared to provide evidence based care for diverse patient populations and also prioritize representation from diverse groups in their research. We take this responsibility seriously. We strive to provide opportunities for underrepresented individuals in Urology and to maintain a diverse group of faculty, staff and trainees.
As a department, we also actively strive to be anti-racist, to recognize our implicit biases and to address them head on as we strive to achieve health equity in Urology and beyond.
Events Calendar
Meet Our Committee Members
Women in Urology
The Department of Urology is proud to have trained over 21 women who have gone on to become board-certified urologists.
Backed by the School of Medicine, our department boasts a proud tradition of appointing women to roles of leadership. Our chair position has been held by Dr. Eila Skinner since 2012 , and previous to this, Dr. Linda Shortliffe from 1995-2011.
Our trainees are encouraged to put their own unique stamp on a urologic career while maintaining a commitment to improving and innovating within the field. We believe that mentorship is key to this process.
Soon to come, we will be adding materials to help start conversations on what it means to be a woman in urology. We hope this content will connect providers at all stages of training and help you stay current with our latest updates!
Our quarterly Bay Area Women in Urology (BAWU) Mentorship series kicked off this month with our first guest speaker, our very own, Dr. Eila Skinner, who shared her experience as a woman in urology, and offered words of advice as everyone went through their step by step guided painting with a live instructor!
Clinical Effectiveness in Leadership Training (CELT)
Urology faculty, Dr. Kathleen Kan, and Urology resident, Dr. Kyla Velaer, participated together in Stanford Medicine's 5 month long Clinical Effectiveness in Leadership Training (CELT) Program, which was developed to provide physicians and other healthcare professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to lead current and future clinical improvement initiatives across the Stanford Medicine enterprise and to transform our clinical culture.
Drs. Kan and Velaer joined Urology clinic manager, Linda Heigl, and Urology assistant clinic manager, Melissa Cowart, to work on their project, titled: “Improving access in a general urology clinic”, in which they identified a low rate of referral completion coming from our emergency department. By implementing several educational and systems-level changes, they were able to ensure that the patients who need urologic care can see them!