October 23 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Course Objectives
October 15 @ 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Course Objectives
October 14 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Course Objectives
October 13 @ 9:30 am – 11:00 am
Course Objectives
October 7 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Course Objectives
In May 2025, the Doctor for a Day (DFAD) student leadership and program teams concluded a successful series of community events and research contributions. As we close out the 2024–2025 program year, we are proud to highlight the impressive accomplishments made by our dedicated students and faculty researchers.
Key Efforts:
These achievements reflect the hard work and collaboration of our student-led research teams and the WIHSE faculty and staff mentors. We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed to these efforts. As we look ahead to the 2025–2026 academic year, DFAD remains committed to expanding our reach and inspiring even more students to explore careers in medicine and healthcare.
About Doctor for a Day (DFAD):
DFAD is a program housed within the Center for Workforce Inclusion and Healthcare System Equity (WIHSE), UW School of Medicine. Each month, DFAD hosts themed academies that introduce K–12 students to health careers through hands-on activities and interactive learning experiences.
October 1 @ 9:30 am – 11:00 am
Building Inclusive and Affirming Interactions at UW Medicine
Reducing Weight Stigma and Bias in Healthcare – As part of UW Medicine’s ongoing efforts to reduce bias in healthcare, this new course explores bias related to body weight. Framed around patient stories, this course aims to increase empathy related to weight stigma by offering a better understand of the history of society’s relationship with weight, as well as explore contemporary research that challenges stereotypes in society about health and one’s body size. This course also focuses on skills we can use in healthcare to decrease bias and improve interactions with people related to their body.
Objectives:
1. Increase empathy through adult patient stories related to weight stigma.
2. Understand the history of society’s relationship with weight.
3. Increase knowledge of recent research on weight’s impact on health, weight loss interventions, and the success at maintaining weight loss.
4. Learn skills to decrease bias and improve interactions with people related to their body.
All are welcome to this training.
August 6 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Building Inclusive and Affirming Interactions at UW Medicine
Reducing Weight Stigma and Bias in Healthcare – As part of UW Medicine’s ongoing efforts to reduce bias in healthcare, this new course explores bias related to body weight. Framed around patient stories, this course aims to increase empathy related to weight stigma by offering a better understand of the history of society’s relationship with weight, as well as explore contemporary research that challenges stereotypes in society about health and one’s body size. This course also focuses on skills we can use in healthcare to decrease bias and improve interactions with people related to their body.
Objectives:
1. Increase empathy through adult patient stories related to weight stigma.
2. Understand the history of society’s relationship with weight.
3. Increase knowledge of recent research on weight’s impact on health, weight loss interventions, and the success at maintaining weight loss.
4. Learn skills to decrease bias and improve interactions with people related to their body.
All are welcome to this training.
A recent article titled “Doctor for a Day: The Impact of a Health Professions Enrichment Program on Self-Efficacy”, published in Frontiers in Medicine, spotlights the measurable impact of Doctor for a Day (DFAD), a hands-on health professions program run out of the UW Medicine Office of Healthcare Equity. The program is designed to inspire and encourage educationally and economically under resourced students to consider careers in medicine and healthcare.
Authored by Celeste Coler, Kareena Patel, A. J. Balatico, Kumhee Ro, Joshua Villarreal, Nora Coronado, and Estell Williams, the study evaluates feedback from nearly 1,000 K–12 students who participated in DFAD events between 2017 and 2023. Students completed anonymous surveys after attending, and the results show a clear increase in self-confidence and interest in healthcare careers, especially among high school students. Many reported a stronger belief in their ability to go to college and pursue a future in medicine.
Run by students, staff, and faculty from the UW School of Medicine, DFAD events include hands-on stations such as physical exam skills, patient interviewing techniques, and suturing. These interactive experiences help students better understand what it takes to become a healthcare professional and imagine themselves in that role.
Open to all students, the program focuses on early exposure because research shows that without intervention in elementary school, many students may lose interest in science and math before reaching high school. DFAD aims to change that trajectory by providing early socialization, achievement experiences, and mentorship.
As the study shows, this approach works. Students gain not just skills but a clearer sense of what is possible for them in school, in their future careers, and in their lives.
October 22 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Objective
Building Inclusive and Affirming Interactions at UW Medicine
Using individuals’ pronouns is fundamental to respectful, inclusive, and affirming interactions across UW Medicine, with our colleagues, students, and patients. Many of our community members make mistakes at times, are corrected, and genuinely apologize. However, to truly improve, we need structured and supportive opportunities to practice. These opportunities are not typically available in our day-to-day interactions.
This monthly training series provides ongoing opportunities to practice and receive feedback from experts and supportive colleagues to improve pronoun competency. Remember, practice makes perfect and you may attend these sessions as often as you would like. Registration for each group is capped at 20 to allow for individualized practice and feedback. The goal is to foster inclusion and belonging for every member of our UW Medicine community, with emphasis on supporting those who do not use he/his or she/her pronouns.
