The Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University is an established world leader in research, teaching, and medical care. Keeping with this long honored tradition of excellence, the Department of Medicine established the Diversity Council in 2002. Our mission is to promote increased recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty, fellows, and residents from groups under-represented in medicine as well as to promote an inclusive environment across the department.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, "underrepresented in medicine" means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population." The Department of Medicine and the Diversity Council follow this definition, as does the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.