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Dr. Tamara Davis Receives Ohio State’s Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award

March 22, 2017

Congratulations to Dr. Tamara Davis who has been selected as one of four recipients of the 2017 Ohio State University Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award. Davis serves as the College of Social Work’s associate dean for academic affairs. The announcement was made on March 27, at PrimaryOne Health, a federally qualified health center on Parsons Avenue in south Columbus. It’s just one of the field sites where Davis’ Medicaid Technical Assistance and Policy Program (MEDTAPP)  Program trains MSW students to provide behavioral health services in an integrated care model to diverse populations living in underserved communities of Columbus.  Many of her students and program staff attended the award ceremony.

“Tamara has been a champion of diversity in the college since she joined its faculty in 2005,” said College of Social Work Dean Tom Gregoire. “This award reflects a career of commitment to diversity, and one that is expressed through teaching, scholarship, and service.”

In addition to the MEDTAPP service, research and training endeavor which has prepared 67 students to work with diverse individuals in culturally relevant practice, Davis is the lead-author of a study that explored the experience of LGBTQ students across all of Ohio State’s campuses. This report made far ranging recommendations that have influenced the university’s current and prior Provost’s effort to create a more inclusive campus community leading to changes in its university physical and cultural environments and curricula.

Davis was nominated by colleagues Adriane Peck and Stacey Saunders-Adams.

“I am truly honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Davis. “I work alongside some really special people who share my commitment to diversity. I thank them for helping to sustain and advance our work towards reducing service inequities and health disparities.”

This year, Davis also received the Community Psychiatrist of the Year Award from Ohio State’s Division of Public and Community Psychiatry, which honors faculty who have  provided excellence in public and community psychiatry education to its residents and or medical students. Dr. Dale Svendsen presented the award to the team (Davis, Ellen deFrance, Staci Swenson, Dr. Ernesto Ortiz-Cruzado) who were chosen for their efforts in putting together the integrated behavioral health and physical health care educational program for the residents at PrimaryOne Health.

To read more about their MEDTAPP work at PrimaryOne Health, click here.