UB dental school receives Insight Into Diversity Magazine 2024 HEED Award

For the second consecutive year, the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine has received the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity- focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the 2024 Health Professions HEED Award—a national honor recognizing U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion—the UB School of Dental Medicine will be featured, along with 70 other recipients, in the November/ December 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine. This is the second time the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient.

“We are very proud that the School of Dental Medicine has been recognized for its efforts toward cultivating an inclusive community. Our programs are responsive to the values of our school, in particular, a commitment to belonging by fostering an equitable, diverse and inclusive environment,” said Simone Duarte, DDS, PhD, MS, associate dean for faculty affairs, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Insight Into Diversity magazine selected the School of Dental Medicine for its commitment to establishing programs, policies and practices that center equity, diversity and inclusion. These include its award-winning pathway programs Destination Dental School and the Native American Pre-Dental Student Gateway Program, the STEER (Support, Training, Early-career Enhancement and Retention) program, an intentional and formal mentoring program for faculty and staff, and curricular innovations like a required orientation to equity, diversity and inclusion and the social determinants of health, which has been completed by over 400 incoming students.

“The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees—and best practices for both—continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”

For more information about the 2024 Health Professions HEED Award,
visit insightintodiversity.com.