Associate Professor of Medicine, Section of Emergency Medicine
Associate Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Education
Associate Dean for Admissions, Pritzker School of Medicine
Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for the Section of Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine Clerkship Director

 

Dr. Carter was recently appointed as Associate Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Education. In her new role, Dr. Carter will work closely with Drs. Doriane Miller, interim Vice Chair for DEI and John McConville, Vice Chair of Education, as well as program directors across the Department to oversee recruitment, GME climate as it relates to DEI, GME affinity groups and faculty development.
Dr. Carter obtained her medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine, and completed her residency training in emergency medicine at the University of Chicago. She subsequently joined our faculty in 2010. In addition to her role at Pritzker, Dr. Carter currently serves as the Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for the Section of Emergency Medicine and the Emergency Medicine Clerkship Director.
Dr. Carter’s passion for enhancing diversity in medical education is exemplified by her contributions at PSOM where she led initiatives that resulted in a significant increase in the number of underrepresented and low-income students who matriculate, earning PSOM recognition as one of the most diverse and selective medical schools in the country. She has been recognized for her excellence as a medical educator by her peers, residents, and students. She currently serves as a Master in the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and as a Faculty Scholar in the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence, and is a two-time recipient of the Doroghazi Outstanding Clinical Teaching Award and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. In 2015 she was awarded the Biological Sciences Division Distinguished Educator/Mentor Award for Excellence in Clinical Education and in 2021 she was named as the recipient of the Department of Medicine’s Diversity Award.

Working with Drs. Miller and McConville, Dr. Carter will ensure and organize a departmental presence at national recruitment conferences, provide key guidance for faculty in conducting holistic review, support the development and implementation of recruitment strategies, and liaise between the GME Diversity Committee and the DOM to identify interventions that promote a climate of belonging for trainees of diverse backgrounds. Dr. Carter will also play an important role in facilitating mentor/ mentee relationships between URiM trainees and DOM faculty
WC: What helped you develop leadership skills and be named to leadership positions throughout your career?
KC: I have had the privilege of learning from leaders with different leadership styles, many of whom are women. Early on into my tenure as an assistant professor, I started to actively absorb and emulate the demonstrated leadership skills that I saw around me. I would identify and practice incorporating qualities that were admirable into my own leadership style. Keenly observing and incorporating leadership styles and skills early on is important and something that I describe to trainees and mentees as well.
In terms of being named to leadership positions, the first part of my strategy and success has been to follow my passion. Early on in my career, I knew that medical education was going to be my niche. The emergency medicine clerkship was my first platform to exercise my creativity and build collaborative relationships with people around me and by doing that, I was able to be productive. Secondly, it has been important for me to build a network of mentors and sponsors.
WC: What have been your experiences with mentorship throughout your career?
KC: My network of mentors and sponsors has been integral to my growth into leadership positions. Each of my mentors has had different strengths which has helped me to develop and grow my vision for myself and my skillset. I have been so fortunate to have had mentors who have cared about me both personally and professionally. Their investment in me has been critical to my personal and professional identity formation. I credit my mentors with always helping me to see a path forward that aligns best with my skills and talents. From my mentors and sponsors, I have also had excellent role modeling in how to pay it forward, contribute to the growth of those coming behind me, and help guide and smooth their path to success.
WC: What advice do you have for women faculty and trainees in the Department of Medicine?
KC: First, recognize your talents and your gifts and don’t shy away from being able to name them. It’s important to know what we contribute and be able to talk about it, particularly in settings of leadership and potential leadership.
Additionally, within our department, it is important for us to reach across disciplines; this has been crucial in my career. Not only do I have mentors within emergency medicine, I also have mentors in other specialties that have contributed to my growth. We have the benefit that within our department, our culture fosters positive cross-disciplinary collaboration and mentorship.
WC: What are your future goals and vision for DEI Education at the University of Chicago?
KC: My passion has always been for the learner and for creating educational spaces for learners of diverse backgrounds to thrive on their journey towards the acquisition of skills and knowledge.
With my new role, my overall focus is on climate and culture, recruitment, and resident selection; there are a few things I strive for moving forward:
•Zeroing in on the needs of our learners and understanding, from their perspectives, what blind spots we, as faculty, may have that could be working against fostering a sense of belonging for all. We can make tangible changes to our learning environment and create safe learning spaces where our trainees of diverse backgrounds feel valued and can thrive.
•Facilitating the process by which learners find their mentors and sponsors, and access pathways to faculty positions.
•Recruitment of diverse trainees, not only through best practices, but by examining our biases. We all have biases, but is important to examine them, tear them down, and educate ourselves in order to encourage and foster an environment that creates more equitable selection processes. We need to pay particular attention to how we diversify our applicant pool through pipelines, publicizing and marketing our learning environment, and setting diversity in the applicant pool as a priority