To guide departmental structures, policies, and practices to a) improve department workforce diversity relative to racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic status, b) promote and improve obstetrics & gynecological health and healthcare equity, c) promote research and d) engage the community.
The Task Force identified five priority areas to create a culture of inclusion within our department and the broader community that we serve:
The UCLA OBGYN EDI Task Force is led by Lisa Nicholas, MD, Associate Clinical Professor and Vice Chair of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity. Dr. Nicholas has long been an advocate for racial justice and health equity both in the workplace - in our clinical practice and in education for our trainees – and in her personal life. Dr. Nicholas is exemplary of the anti-racism efforts that the department, the David Geffen School of Medicine and the larger UCLA campus are committed to promoting.
Zain Al-Safi, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor
Christina Han, MD, Associate Clinical Professor and MFM Fellowship Director
Christine Holschneider, MD, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Carla Janzen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Erica Oberman, MD, Associate Clinical Professor and Residency Director
Sandra Orsulic, PHD, Professor
Aparna Sridhar, MD, MPH, Associate Clinical Professor and Director of Marketing and Innovation
Mya Zapata, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor and Labor and Delivery Director
Elaine Chan, MD, Resident
Anita Chanana, MD, Resident
Maria Estrada, Project Manager
Kristy Fong, Medical Education Manager
Ukarjit Kaur, Project Manager
Tracy Prinz, Marketing and Communications Manager
Dr. Mya Zapata, Medical Director of Labor and Delivery, Dr. Lisa Nicholas, Vice Chair of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Dr. Angela Chen, Family Planning Chief, are lead members of the UCLA Perinatal Coalition tasked with developing strategies for dismantling structural racism in maternity care at UCLA. They are partnering with organizations such as National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC) and California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) to roll out an EDI survey for postpartum patients, implement equity and safety rounds and develop focus groups regarding equity in the workplace. They also plan to develop a patient and family advisory council.
UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology has established a Visiting Student Scholarship program for outstanding final year medical students from underrepresented backgrounds. The student scholar will spend a 3-week sub-internship on one of our High-Risk Obstetrics, Inpatient Benign, Complex Family Planning or Reproductive Endocrinology rotations. Two awards will be given annually.
Keren Darius from Howard University was our inaugural recipient of the OB/GYN Visiting Student Scholarship Award, who rotated with us in Fall 2021.
The EDI Task Force arranged for a departmental screening of Belly of the Beast, a documentary exposing a pattern of illegal sterilizations in California’s women’s prisons. The 2021 screening was followed by a Q&A with the film’s director and a department-wide discussion.
During Women’s Health Week in March 2022, the EDI Task Force presented a compelling dialogue with visionary artist Michelle Browder who is the creative mind behind “The Mothers of Gynecology” monument in Alabama.
UCLA OBGYN has established a partnership with Bridge Builders Foundation, a Los Angeles based nonprofit organization that supports youth through mentoring, scholarships, educational programs and the teaching of life skills. The initiative will build on the foundation’s efforts to raise health awareness and promote career opportunities for African American and other minority youth. The department will work with Bridge Builders to provide a platform for interested high school students to get to know UCLA Health trainees and professionals through a virtual series of lectures, lab experiences and dialogues.
Christopher Tarnay, MD, Clinical Professor of UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology, in partnership with the non-profit Medicine for Humanity, led a volunteer team on a 2021 trip to Uganda to provide medical services and training. The UCLA team included Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery fellows, Dr. Rotimi Nettey and Dr. Dmitry Volkin, as well as Badru Mutawe, a registered nurse, and Raymond Cervantes, a surgical technician. In five days, the team performed 45 surgeries to cure obstetric fistula and pelvic floor disorders and trained Ugandan doctors to perform surgery with the goal of building a self-sustaining clinic. Dr. Lisa Nicholas, Associate Clinical Professor and Vice Chair of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity for UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology, participated in a previous service trip.
Dr. Kavita Vinekar, a family planning specialist who cares for patients at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, where she is the Chief of Obstetrics & Gynecology, as well as at UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center, is author of the 2021 published Points of View article, Pathology of Racism — A Call to Desegregate Teaching Hospitals, in the The New England Journal of Medicine. Read more >
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