Sacha Sharp, PhD, is a strategic thinker.
She recently assumed the roles of Vice Chair for Strategic Engagement and Director of Medical Education Innovation in the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Medicine; and she knows already that she’ll spend her first few weeks on the job listening, observing and planning out a strategy for continuing to improve the department’s culture.
As a vice chair, Sharp will play a key role in helping the department set and meet goals related to diversity, inclusion, retention, and recruitment. These areas overlap in so many ways, and Sharp says it's her job to ensure there is a blueprint in place for keeping them blended and harmonious.
“Retention builds culture, and culture brings people in,” Sharp said. “If we’re actively valuing the people we already have in place and making it an environment that they enjoy working in, we’re going to encourage other people to be here.”
The position of Vice Chair for Strategic Engagement is a new one within the Department of Medicine. Following the departure of Dr. Sylk Sotto – the department’s former Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development and Vice Chair for Diversity, Health Equity, and Inclusion – department leadership elected to split the role into two positions: the Vice Chair for Strategic Engagement and the Vice Chair of Faculty Development.
Department leadership believes these positions better align with department goals and objectives for the future, and Sharp hopes to build upon the great work that Sotto started.
(The search for the new Vice Chair of Faculty Development is expected to conclude later this summer.)
Sharp has been a respected leader within the school and department for many years, especially in career development, medical education, inclusive excellence, and mentoring. She was a recipient of a 2024 Trustee’s Teaching award, was awarded Distinguished Young Alumna from her Alma Mater Murray State University, and she is one of the very few PhD Faculty Inductees in the IU School of Medicine Chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha.
In her previous roles, Sharp was the Department of Medicine’s Medical Education Academic Specialist, where she supported medical students, residents, and fellows through various educational initiatives and building upon her expertise in curriculum development, program management and evaluation. These initiatives and programs often focused on ensuring clinical educators approach teaching in inclusive ways, Sharp said.
Sharp will continue to serve as the Chair of the IU School of Medicine Diversity Council and as an affiliate faculty with the IU Health Health Equity Advancing through Learning Health Systems (HEAL-R); and she will continue to pursue her research interests, which include promoting culturally engaging teaching in clinical environments, exploring the experiences of underrepresented students in medicine, and enhancing access to quality healthcare and allyship for Black birthing people.
In weighing her past experiences against her passions and future goals, this new vice chair role seemed like the perfect fit, Sharp said. She’s ready to assess the department’s needs, identify key players, and discover what gaps need to be bridged.
As the department’s inaugural Vice Chair for Strategic Engagement, Sharp will oversee the development, implementation, and sustainability of initiatives related to health equity, inclusion, belonging, representation, and cultural humility. She will work closely with the school’s Executive Associate Dean for Equity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Chemen Neal, MD, and other leaders within the IU School of Medicine Center for Inclusive Excellence to monitor and enhance department metrics related to the AAMC Diversity Engagement Survey (DES); as well as with health system leadership and other Department of Medicine leaders on health equity initiatives.
Sharp will help identify and address barriers to faculty advancement and disparities in faculty rank. She will also develop inclusive practices for recruitment and the retention of faculty, staff, and trainees.
As the Director of Medical Education Innovation, Sharp will help mentor the department’s medical educators in curriculum design, implementation, reporting, and improvement planning. She will generate novel educational interventions that address educational priorities from the department and the school, and she will promote and assist the dissemination of the faculty’s effective educational activities.
Sharp isn’t shying away from the challenges this vice chair role presents. Some would like to stop diversity, equity and inclusion plans from being put into place; but Sharp is encouraged that IU School of Medicine and the Department of Medicine has not stopped its work.
“We have to be steadfast in the work that we’re doing. We can’t buckle,” she said. “We know the DEI work we’ve been doing previously is effective, for us to buckle under the pressure, would suggest that it’s not.”
