Uniting education, research, healthcare, and society to advance women's heart health.

Complex health challenges require professionals to operate across disciplines and to better connect with society. Here, we showcase a community-engaged and challenge-based educational model in which undergraduate students conduct transdisciplinary research on authentic complex biomedical problems. This concept reinforces translational medicine, human capital, and exemplifies synergy between education, research, healthcare, and society.

Peer-mentorship and first-year inclusion: building belonging in higher education.

Background: An inclusive academic environment is pivotal to ensure student well-being and a strong sense of belonging and authenticity. Specific attention for an inclusive learning environment is particularly important during a student's transition to higher education. At Utrecht University's Medical School, explorative interviews with students from minority groups indicated they did not always feel included during the orientation programme of their academic education.

'A role model is like a mosaic': reimagining URiM students' role models in medical school.

Background: Role modelling is a widely acknowledged element of medical education and it is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for medical students, such as contributing to professional identity development and a sense of belonging. However, for students who are racially and ethnically underrepresented in medicine (URiM), identification with clinical role models may not be self-evident, as they have no shared ethnic background as a basis for social comparison. This study aims to learn more about the role models of URiM students during medical school and about the added value of representative role models.

[Deeper skin tones rarely depicted in Dutch dermatology textbooks].

Objective: Within diverse populations such as in the Netherlands, medical education must prepare students to diagnose skin conditions on a broad range of skin tones. To develop the visual pattern recognition skills to do so, medical students need exposure to skin conditions on deeper skin tones. The purpose of this study is to assess the inclusion of images of brown skin in Dutch dermatology textbooks.

Inclusion and diversity within medical education: a focus group study of students' experiences.

Background/introduction: As patient populations become more diverse, it is imperative that future physicians receive proper training in order to provide the best quality of care. This study examines medical students' perceptions of how prepared they are in dealing with a diverse population and assesses how included and supported the students felt during their studies.

Methods: Four semi-structured focus groups were held with medical students across all years of the medical study program of a Dutch university.