Inclusive Excellence
Our Purpose
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PLM) seeks to cultivate an organizational culture that supports our Cultural North Star values and creates a sense of belonging and inclusion in all mission areas – patient care, research, education and service. Our dedicated and passionate Inclusive Excellence Co-Chairs and Program Managers work with our PLM IE Committee to continuously assess, evaluate and, as needed, improve areas within PLM so that our values align with our department practices and the experiences of our employees.
Explore Our Inclusive Excellence Initiatives
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is deeply committed to advancing excellence and inclusion across all facets of our work. Our efforts, within the School of Medicine, are guided by our Inclusive Excellence Plan, a strategic roadmap to advance our efforts and goals by focusing on our people, climate, structural elements, professional development/education, community engagement, and patient care. Grounded in our Cultural North Star values of doing what’s right, making things better, and being kind, the IE Plan outlines a comprehensive approach to building an inclusive environment. Below is a summary of our goals for each IE Plan component.
PLM, like all UCLA Health departments, reviews our Inclusive Excellence Plan annually with the Dean’s Office. More information on the DGSOM Inclusive Excellence Plan, please visit their dedicated website.
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- Goal: We aim to celebrate our PLM Department, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) and the Greater Los Angeles communities within our workforce.
- How to Help: Join our subcommittee!
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- Goal: We are dedicated to fostering a department culture where everyone feels welcome, valued, and treated fairly. By using focus groups and data analysis, we will identify areas for improvement and implement targeted interventions to ensure a welcoming and supportive environment.
- How to Help: Offer your input and help us with data analysis!
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- Goal: We are refining departmental processes to enhance inclusion, particularly in resident recruitment and staff onboarding. This includes improving our holistic review process and incorporating IE principles into onboarding and structured check-ins.
- How to Help: Assist in refining our recruitment, onboarding, and retention processes for staff and trainees to ensure we attract and retain talent.
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- Goal: We are enhancing access to IE-focused education and professional development. This year, we will assess current IE awareness and offer tailored learning experiences to empower employees to foster a more inclusive workplace.
- How to Help: Participate in our educational and professional development offerings! Join our subcommittee to help us create IE-focused educational opportunities and help improve our understanding of what IE education our employees would like.
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- Goal: We are expanding exposure to staff and MD/PhD careers in Pathology for students from middle school through graduate school to help them understand the amazing variety of interesting careers in our field! This includes ongoing partnerships with and staff recruitment pathways, strengthening partnerships like the UCLA-Turner Allied Health Internship Program, LAUSD schools and UCLA undergraduate/graduate students and engaging underrepresented communities in our field.
- How to Help: Volunteer to be on a panel to tell students about your job! Join our subcommittee to increase, improve and maintain various career exposure opportunities for students at UCLA and with our community partners.
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- Goal: We are committed to ensuring pathology testing does not inadvertently create barriers for patients to access health care. We collaborate with our Quality Improvement and Laboratory Stewardship programs to identify and implement projects that help ensure all patients can obtain high quality care. Blood type is genetically determined and associated with ancestry, and patients can only receive compatible blood types. Thus, we are working to ensure our blood donor population reflects the ancestries of our patients.
- How to Help: Let us know if you have ideas to reduce barriers to health care inadvertently created by pathology testing! Or, join our subcommittee working on these projects.
Upcoming Inclusive Excellence Events
Grand Rounds
Friday, January 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM PT – Virtual
Damon Tweedy, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Duke University School of Medicine
Staff Physician, Durham Veteran Affairs Health System
Friday, March 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM PT
Richard Haspel, MD, PhD
Professor
Harvard Medical School
For our complete list of upcoming Grand Rounds events, please visit our dedicated webpage.
Book Club
For the next phase of our “Empowering Harmonious Futures” journey, we are excited to announce our upcoming book club! We will dive deeper into Dr. Melanie Ho’s book, Beyond Leaning In, exploring actionable steps to navigate workplace challenges and redefine leadership through collaboration, allyship, and innovation.
Sign Up to be a part of this enriching discussion!
Resources
For those who could not attend the workshops with Dr. Melanie Ho, you can watch them at your convenience using the links below:
- Workshop 1 – “Drawing Out Inclusive Excellence: Exploring Bias, Allyship, and Systemic Change”
- Uncover and address biases within our institution to break down unseen barriers, fostering open Office of Inclusive Excellence discussions and developing actionable plans for systemic change.
- Workshop 2 – “The Water We Swim In: Unmasking and Transforming Workplace Norms”
- Explore organizational culture to uncover subtle biases in workplace norms, enhance your allyship with advanced Office of Inclusive Excellence strategies, and create a roadmap for continuous learning.
- Workshop 3 – “From Confrontation to Collaboration: Leading through Conflict and Uncertainty”
- Navigate uncertainty with effective communication, develop strategies for organizational alignment, and turn challenges into opportunities for growth.