Welcome to the newly revamped Community Building & Belonging Brief (formerly known as the EDI Brief)! This monthly feature will continue to remain true to the core values that helped establish it five years ago—highlighting ongoing opportunities to promote health equity through education. We look forward to creating space to learn more about the people who work in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine and sharing their insights on a range of topics.
Community highlights
Council for Community Building & Belonging Meeting
The Council for Community Building & Belonging will host our first meeting of the year on Tuesday, January 20, at 5:30pm. This meeting will be held on Zoom and is open to all members of the department, including faculty, trainees, CRNAs, and staff. Contact apmcbb@uw.edu for more information.
Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Award Ceremony and Reception
The UW Medicine Office of Healthcare Equity is sponsoring the Martin Luther King Jr. Award Ceremony on Thursday, January 15. If you would like to attend, click here to RSVP. UW NetID required.
Doctor for a Day
On December 13, more than 100 students from Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, WA, participated in Doctor for a Day! An outreach program facilitated by the UW Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Doctor for a Day provides students with hands-on experience as they rotate through stations focused on airway management and pulmonary physiology.
Thank you to Sulayman Jobarteh, CRNA at Harborview Medical Center, and Drs. Ireana Ng, David Asebiode, tina Vu and Marie Angèle Theárd for volunteering their time! They answered many thoughtful questions, inspiring curiosity about a variety of healthcare fields.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19
The theme for Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year is Mission Possible II: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way, which could not be more timely as we renew efforts to foster community building and belonging within Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine. In the coming months, we are committed to developing programs and initiatives at our various hospital sites, with the goal of improving the experiences of faculty, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), trainees, and staff. This new platform affords us an opportunity to consider how community building and belonging will support our missions to provide excellent patient care, train future generations of anesthesiology leaders, and pioneer bench-to-bedside research.
Meet our team
Marie Angèle Theárd, MD
Vice Chair, Community Building & Belonging
Dr. Theárd joined the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine in 2022. She continues to be committed to ensuring equitable care for everyone and believes that “community building and belonging is about assuring that our learning and patient care environments feel safe for everyone.”
Gary Barbour-See
Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Programs
Gary has been in the department since 2021, driving initiatives to improve equity and inclusion. For Gary, “building a sense of community doesn’t stop at the end of the day. The things we do to create an inclusive environment follows us, our colleagues, patients, and loved ones.”
Jaelen Barnett
Program Operations Specialist
Jaelen joined the department in 2023. He is passionate about the work he does. He believes “community building and belonging is a way to overcome misconceptions through active listening, and is grounded in the desire to learn from others without judgement.”