Beyond Flexner Alliance Spring 2022 Newsletter

After two years of living in a virtual community, we are pleased to have been able to convene in person during the 2022 Beyond Flexner Conference, co-hosted by AT Still University and Arizona State University Edson College of Nursing, in Phoenix, Arizona. We are grateful for all of our sponsors and attendees — both in person and virtual. We could not have made the conference a success without this vibrant community of passionate leaders!

This year’s conference marked a number with milestones for advancing social mission — in total, we had 465 attendees which surpassed the attendance at our 2015 Albuquerque Conference and we had attendees from 39 out of the 50 states and 12 countries! Additionally, with our Inaugural Social Mission Scholars Program, we were able to support nearly 30 student change agents who are transforming their communities. The conference not only provided a space to gather and discuss how the pandemic has shaped the future of health workforce and equity, but also provided a space to vision and dream together. We were able to leave Phoenix with meaningful partnerships and collaborations to advance social mission as a community.

This newsletter highlights key moments from the conference and provides a way for us all to continue the discussions and efforts in our own institutions. To better support our community in the advancement of social mission, we are looking for feedback on how our growing organization can continue to convene our audience and supports their collective social mission work. Building off of the momentum from the Conference, in the coming weeks, we also aim to create an online Slack platform to keep the community connected. We look eagerly to the future as we grow the social mission movement with you!

In solidarity, 

The Beyond Flexner Alliance Team 

On the evening of Tuesday, March 29th, there was an Integrated Interprofessional Community Outreach session held at Emerson Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona which was led by Corbin’s Legacy and sponsored by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health.  With support and volunteers from A. T. Still University, 400 families were able to receive oral health screenings, medical screenings, dinner at the event, and groceries to take home.  There were also oral care gift bags and t-shirts from Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures for participants.  Over $1000 in donations from conference attendees collected during the 2021 Virtual and 2022 conferences will go to Corbin’s Legacy as our selected community partner for their ongoing work.  Feedback from the families on the event was overwhelmingly positive since so many have gone without health screenings during the pandemic and in many cases with food insecurity for their families.  It was wonderful for us to see the impact strong community partners can have as part of our conference.

On the Wednesday, March 30th, a community town hall event was hosted by Toyese Oyeyemi Jr., the Director of the Beyond Flexner Alliance. The word cloud depicted below capture attendees’ feedback to the discussion questions posed.