A message from Dr. Paul Ramsey
I am pleased to announce that Drs. Bessie Young and Trish Kritek will begin new administrative roles on March 16, 2022, serving as vice dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and vice dean for faculty affairs, respectively, in the University of Washington School of Medicine. These two new vice dean roles reflect our UW Medicine priorities in creating more diverse and inclusive learning environments and supporting the development and well-being of our faculty. They will join our current vice deans for academic, rural, and regional affairs; research and graduate education; graduate medical education; and administration and finance. In these new roles, they will work collaboratively with the executive vice dean for clinical affairs and other vice deans of the medical school to further align and integrate our clinical, research, education and EDI activities.
Dr. Young has been at the UW School of Medicine her entire career including medical school, residency, and fellowship, having joined the faculty initially as an acting instructor in the Division of Nephrology and Department of Medicine in 1994. She became an assistant professor (2004-2007) before being promoted to associate professor in 2007 and professor in 2015. She served as VA section chief for nephrology (2016-2021) and associate chair for diversity and inclusion in the Department of Medicine (2018-2021) before becoming the associate dean and medical director for the Office of Healthcare Equity in 2021. Together with Dr. Paula Houston, our chief equity officer, and the Office of Healthcare Equity team, Bessie has helped to lead the development of our Healthcare Equity Blueprint 2.0 to further guide our journey towards becoming an anti-racist organization. Bessie’s scholarship has focused on healthcare inequities and chronic kidney disease and in partnership with our medical students and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology allowed UW Medicine to be one of the first healthcare systems to remove race from the equation used to estimate kidney function. She will also continue to serve as medical director for Healthcare Equity and is known for her community engagement and commitment to vulnerable populations. As vice dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion, Bessie will collaborate across the School of Medicine to support curriculum development, equitable education and research programs, and the recruitment and development of diverse faculty, trainees, and students.
Dr. Kritek joined UW Medicine in 2010 as an associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine in the Department of Medicine and as associate medical director for critical care at the University of Washington Medical Center (2010-2018). She was promoted to professor in the Department of Medicine in 2017 and then initially served as associate dean for faculty development (2018-2020) and then as associate dean for faculty affairs since 2020 recognizing the expansion of support for our faculty. Through the creation of the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA), Trish and her team have focused on supporting our faculty through career development and leadership training, well-being, professionalism, and creating diverse and inclusive learning environments through partnerships with the Office of Healthcare Equity and support of our faculty who are underrepresented in medicine and science. The Center for Leadership and Innovation in Medical Education (CLIME) is currently a part of OFA and the Teaching Scholars program and the School of Medicine Continuing Medical Education Program will join the OFA team this coming academic year. She is known as an excellent educator and invaluable resource for our faculty.
The creation of these two new roles are important investments in our school community. The first is in our faculty, who are essential to all that we do across UW Medicine. We are committed to creating an environment where all our faculty can thrive. Secondly, creating an inclusive and equitable environment is a priority for all of UW Medicine. It has been a pleasure for me to work with Drs. Young and Kritek, and I am confident that their leadership will further enhance the excellence and support of our clinical, research, education and EDI programs. Please join me in welcoming Drs. Young and Kritek to their new roles.
Sincerely,
Paul G. Ramsey, M.D.
CEO, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
