Category: Diversity & Inclusion

“The Homeless Situation” – Reflections of a Neighbor and Doctor

reflectivemeded1 Comment

by Suzanne Minor, MD, FAAP

The subject of the email read “MDC Commissioners Meeting to Address the Homeless,” the body asking me to attend the Commissioners Meeting to describe my challenges in dealing with the “homeless situation in our area” in order to force the Homeless Trust to allocate dollars to target the Miami homeless populations.  Common scenes in the nearby downtown Miami waterfront public park included all manner of dogs and owners frolicking in their respective packs, designer-clad joggers and boot campers, tourists snapping photos, parents hovering near toddlers, and men and women rolling out blankets or spreading out cardboard for the night.  This email started me to seriously reflect on the homeless living in the park.

I’ve lived in this area for 10 years now.  There are more homeless now than when we moved in, displaced to the local park by museum construction.  At first, it was awkward as the pristine park felt overrun with this new population.  For a time, I even avoided the park in the evenings, not wanting to be reminded of the poor after working to provide healthcare for them in the face of great obstacles in my professional life throughout the day.  Looking at the homeless in the park was painful, bringing up feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, failure – providing health care for the poor of Miami was so difficult.  For any patients in the county safety net system, subspecialty appointments might take 6-12 months patients and if homeless, those patients might not get the appointment notification at the shelter address they gave until after the appointment was actually scheduled.  Just to see me as a walk-in patient required them to spend hours in the waiting room to be fit in to the day’s census.  Work was like constantly climbing a steep hill without the necessary gear or support.  And seeing those patients at night reminded me of this defeat and wore at my reserves.Read More »

The Power is Yours: An Exhortation from an Undocumented Medical Student

reflectivemeded1 Comment

By Sumbul Siddiqui

My parents immigrated to the United States when I was 4 years old, hoping to give their children a better life. I was raised in Georgia with my three younger siblings, two of whom were born here. Georgia has a policy called 287(g), in which some counties are proud to work together with ICE agents to detain immigrants.

My first encounter with ICE officers was probably when I was 14 years old, just about to enter the 9th grade. I remember this moment very well, because the night before I had watched this scary movie called Saw. So, I was terrified that someone was going to kidnap me. I checked my closet and slept with the lights on that night. No one came for me, but my mom was taken. Two ICE officers entered our home that morning. I only heard bits and pieces because my mom had closed my bedroom door and told me to go back to sleep. Eavesdropping, I heard them tell my mom to go with them, and she would return back to her family soon. That took 3 months. She was taken to the Atlanta Detention Center, and then transferred to an Alabama detention center.

I don’t remember much of what happened during that time, but I do remember visiting my mom in the Atlanta Detention Center. We were only allowed to see her for a brief moment. She was wearing an orange jumpsuit – crying. Her handcuffs were taken off so she could talk to us through the glass window. I told her that everything was going to be okay even though I had no idea what was going on – or really, a clue about our immigration system. When my mom returned, I started high school, and I didn’t think much about immigration again.

Fast forward to my sophomore year in college. They come for my dad. Within just a few months, they come for my brother. My dad was gone for 2 years, and my brother was gone for 7 months. They were both in two different detention centers. Sometimes, I had to figure out who to visit – whether I would drive an hour up from Atlanta to see my father or 3 hours down to see my brother.Read More »

Working on my MD and PhD degrees as a DACA recipient

reflectivemededLeave a comment

By Cesar E. Montelongo Hernandez

Last week a federal appeals court upheld the ruling that blocks the Trump administration from ending DACA. This means the nationwide injunction that allows DACA to remain will stay in place. Despite this, the legal battle will continue and likely head to The Supreme Court of the United States. DACA recipients have been granted a few months of respite but their long-term outlook is still very uncertain.

I am currently in my fourth year of medical school. In total the combined MD-PhD program takes eight years to complete (an MD degree alone takes four years). Students begin by completing two years of the MD, switching over to the PhD for about four years, then coming back to complete the last two years of the MD. At present I have completed two years of the MD degree and I am in the second year of the PhD degree. Ideally, I will complete the PhD degree by 2021 and the MD degree by 2023.Read More »

A Response to Alumni Disappointed in Stritch’s Support for DACA

reflectivemeded2 Comments

By Sunny Nakae

In May the Stritch alumni magazine published a cover feature article about our first cohort of DACA recipients admitted to the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and their impending graduation.  We received both positive and negative correspondence about this feature.  What follows is a compilation of complaints I received from some alumni and a summary of the responses I offered.

“As an alum I am disappointed in your policy to admit DACA recipients over US citizens.  Because you are admitting non-US citizens that means a US citizen will not get a seat. Supporting undocumented students violates Federal Law.  Did these DACA recipients get ‘affirmative action’ status?  Candidates should get admitted because of their credentials, not because they are minorities or immigrants.  What constitutes the right minority?  It seems like Japanese, Korean and Chinese are no longer considered minorities but smaller Asian groups like Hmong are? In my graduating class there are many of us who will no longer be supporting the school.”

Dear Stritch Alum,

Thank you, sincerely, for expressing your current views on our decision to accept MD applications from DACA recipients.  This happened in 2012 with the support of our then dean, Dr. Linda Brubaker, and our then president, Fr. Michael Garanzini, S.J  The inclusion of DACA recipients continues to receive full support from our current dean, Dr. Steven Goldstein, and our president, Dr. JoAnn Rooney.  It seems from your email that you might not have all of the facts for the situation, so I would like to open a dialogue and provide those facts for you and any colleagues with whom you wish to share this information.  I understand that at first glance this decision may appear to disenfranchise other applicants, specifically those of Asian descent or US citizens. Read More »

The Past Today: A Southern Physician Visits the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

reflectivemededLeave a comment

By Suzanne Minor

At this year’s Southern Group on Educational Affairs conference, the University of Mississippi hosted an outing at the Two Mississippi Museums, consisting of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

I focused my visit on the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.  It was exhausting, difficult, heart-wrenching, and, in the end, hopeful.  Growing up in rural Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida, I witnessed legalized segregation through small private schools and experienced rampant racism as the norm. Thankfully, college and medical school broadened my perspective, particularly gross anatomy.  Once without skin, all of those black and white cadavers looked so similar.  Not better than or less than, but equal in skinless death.  I dove into former slave narratives, reading Frederick Douglas and trying to reconcile the message from my upbringing – that I was better than because I was white – with my new learning in gross anatomy and in my direct experience with people who looked different than me.  I was learning that we were all just human, no better and no worse than each other.  My professional career has been dedicated to attending to the medical and holistic needs of the underserved communities of Miami, Florida, a diverse area in which I’m in the minority.

Read More »

What Diversity and Inclusion Means to Me: A Science of Learning Perspective

reflectivemeded2 Comments

By Adrian K. Reynolds

Over the past few months, I’ve been on a quest to answer this one question: How does my mission to create opportunities for students to develop self-regulated, active learning1,2 skills support diversity and inclusion?

In this quest to raise my level of critical consciousness3, or, in my African American Vernacular English, to “stay woke”, I’ve asked, how do the learning opportunities I’ve provided for students foster a culture of inclusion for all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, age, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, origin, language, ability, or political beliefs?  Well, I thought to myself, as a Black male teacher of Spanish in the K-12 school system, then later as a college instructor of English as a Second Language (ESL), and now as an academic enhancement specialist in the medical school setting, the learning opportunities I’ve created for students from all walks of life have, I believe, reflected meaningful contributions to building a culture of diversity and inclusion.  Not being completely satisfied with this response, I continued along the path of critical self-reflection. Read More »

Power, Diversity and Medical Regulation: State Medical Boards Move Beyond the Old Boys’ Club

reflectivemeded1 Comment

By David Johnson

Recently, the Association of American Medical Colleges announced that for the first time ever women comprised the majority of matriculants into US medical school programs.  This triggered a few thoughts of my own.

In 2017, I debuted my Twitter account focusing on the history of medical regulation.  In the fall of that year, I shared several historical snippets focusing on women in medical regulation.  In one I focused on a regulatory trailblazer: Adele Hutchinson, MD, a graduate of Boston University who appears to have been the first woman to serve on a state medical board anywhere in the United States.  This occurred surprisingly early–in Minnesota in the 1890s.  The fact that two other women (Margaret Koch; Hannah Hurd) succeeded her on the Minnesota medical board struck me as all the more remarkable considering the male domination of medical boards individually and collectively throughout the majority of their history.Read More »

Overcoming Uncertainty through Experience

reflectivemeded1 Comment

By Michelle Sergi

Coming out of my first year of medical school I struggled with my sense of confidence.  After endless nights of studying, a multitude of experiences at our Clinical Training and Assessment Center, and specialized clinical experiences, I felt that I could take on the challenge of counseling patients.  On the other hand, when I thought about being on my own to take care of patients, I was terrified.  My pharmacology knowledge was insufficient, and even though I knew how to conduct a full physical exam, did I really know what was normal compared to abnormal?  These questions proved to me that I lacked the clinical experience necessary to become a good physician.

When I heard of the opportunity to apply for the Leroy Rogers Preceptorship, I immediately knew that it could help bridge the gap between my medical textbooks and clinical knowledge.  This program gives preclinical students the opportunity to choose a preceptor for a four week, hands-on family medicine clinical experience.  I had shadowed a family physician, Dr. Andrews, in my hometown several times before so I knew he would be the perfect preceptor.  I also felt that I would learn from his patients, especially because many are medically underserved.Read More »

Is ‘The Good Doctor’ Any Good at Representing Neurodiversity?

reflectivemeded1 Comment

By Kayhan Parsi

The Good Doctor recently debuted on ABC.  Billed as an unconventional medical drama, it features an autistic surgical resident, Dr. Shaun Murphy, played by Freddie Highmore.  As a parent of an autistic adolescent, I welcome more varied depictions of autistic individuals in popular culture.  Unfortunately, the trailer for the show concerned me, as it played up some now familiar tropes in depicting individuals with autism.  Dr. Murphy is not only autistic but is a savant as well.  The autistic savant is an irresistible cliché for creators of film and television programs.  For example, Dustin Hoffman’s depiction of Raymond in Rain Man is the granddaddy of savants in popular culture.  Raymond was able to count cards at an incredible level, something his estranged brother (played by Tom Cruise) tried to exploit to his own advantage.  The savant trope also reared its head in the recently released Netflix series Atypical featuring an adolescent male with autism (played by Keir Gilchrist).  Although he doesn’t exhibit the kind of genius-level savant characteristics that Dr. Murphy displays, Sam in Atypical goes to a mainstream school, holds down a part-time job, and is struggling with dating…
Read More »

DACA MD-PhD Student: “I humbly ask to be given the chance”

reflectivemeded1 Comment

By Cesar Montelongo

(These remarks were delivered at a rally of the Stritch School of Medicine student to support their DACA recipient colleagues on September 6, 2017.)

My name is Cesar, I am a DACA recipient and a third year student in the Loyola MD-PhD program, training to be a physician and a scientist.

In 2011 I graduated college with three degrees, two minors, and honors. Months prior to my graduation, the Dream Act failed to pass in Congress.  This was a life changing event:  Had the Dream Act passed, I could have applied to medical school.  Instead I was left stranded, unable to exercise my college degrees, much less attend medical school.  For over a year I struggled, my only hope being that some unforeseen chance would appear…Read More »