#OurTufts Features MD Student Elizabeth De Jesus
“It has been a dream of mine to become a member of the Tufts University School of Medicine Admissions Committee. It's the ultimate way to influence the incoming class and make sure it is diverse and inclusive. In this position, medical students are given the same voting rights as other admissions committee members, including faculty and physicians. We interview candidates, participate in monthly meetings, and advocate for the applicants who would best represent the mission of Tufts.
This is important to me because the community of underrepresented medical students at Tufts is small, but it's very tight knit, and we know it would be an asset to recruit more candidates. Recently, we implemented a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion session for applicants where underrepresented medical students come together on a panel to welcome the applicants after their interview and show them why we feel our community is so important.
In addition to focusing on increasing representation in medicine, I have also been honored to focus on policy at Tufts as a member of President Monaco's Equity and Inclusion Committee. I like to joke and say I was the least qualified person in the group, because I was amongst deans, provosts, and presidents, but we all had the same mission: to identify ways in which Tufts can embody the anti-racist mission that was presented in 2020.
On the Equity and Inclusion Committee, we identified initiatives to change the curriculum, focused on the recruitment of faculty, and implemented an annual assessment of faculty’s alignment with the Tufts mission. Although Tufts became an anti-racist institution in 2020, I think it's important that we continue to educate all facets of our community on how it impacts their professions, our Tufts family, and our country as a whole.”
Elizabeth De Jesus, M21, is an aspiring surgeon, Tufts School of Medicine Admissions Committee Member, and Diversity Chair.
#OurTufts is a series of personal stories shared by members of the Tufts community.