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One Month is Enough, Allegedly
21 Plays4 years ago
We're celebrating Black History Month in the Lounge...but don't get it twisted, black history is 365! Join us as we discuss some of our under-appreciated black heroes, The Family Hustle in some mess, and the effects of the termination of Step 2 CS. #OneMonthIsntEnough
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Transcript
Virtual AMEC with 1,500 Participants
00:00:01
Speaker
The annual medical education conference has been the cornerstone event of the SNMA. Last year, we held our first virtual AMEC with more than 1,500 participants.
Upcoming AMEC Highlights
00:00:13
Speaker
This year, we plan to bring you more engaging workshops, plenary sessions, social and networking opportunities to meet one-on-one with your peers and attend the interactive exhibit fair with pre-med and professional representatives from across the medical education continuum.
00:00:31
Speaker
With tracks for medical students, pre-medical students, and fourth years and beyond, you don't want to miss this year's conference. Visit the AMEC page on snma.org for more information.
Black History Month: Recognizing Black Heroes
00:01:00
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Black History Month episode of SNMA Presents the Lounge. Whether you're in the student lounge, doctor's lounge, or you're just lounging around at home, get ready to join SNMA for meaningful conversations on topics affecting minorities in medicine and groups that often sit at the margins of healthcare.
00:01:20
Speaker
I'm student Dr. Isabella, and one month isn't long enough because there are so many Black underappreciated heroes that we need to really give credit to. And I feel like a month just doesn't, it just doesn't cut it. I mean, especially if you think about the extent
00:01:40
Speaker
of America and how great this nation is. And a lot of that is due to the amount of Black heroes that we have. So I think if anything, it should be all day, every day, 365 days a week, 24 seven.
The Importance of Black Culture and History
00:01:54
Speaker
This your boy student, Dr. Aldwin.
00:01:57
Speaker
And one month isn't long enough because we need it every day. We need black empowerment, black love, black unity, black connection, collaboration each and every day. Every day we walk out the door, every day we wanna block, every day we're in school, we show compassion for each other and work toward the common goal of building our communities for a safe haven, for our future, for our progeny and creating something that's everlasting that the world has never seen before.
00:02:26
Speaker
What's up, everybody? This is student Dr. Erica Dingle. And one month of Black history is not long enough because, I mean, I've been Black all my life. That's why. Like, that's enough of a reason. But everything tied to me is Black excellence, Black culture. It's just dripping with Blackness, melanin. And we have done so much for society and humanity
00:02:54
Speaker
I mean, we're not even going to talk about from the establishment of the United States and how we built this country, but we have been incorporated into the thread of this world for centuries upon centuries. And that's why we deserve more than a month. And honestly, if we were treated better as a people, maybe we'd feel like you could give us six months, but now we want the whole year. I'm saying. All year, every year.
00:03:21
Speaker
So what about our, let's think about it. For Black History Month, right, when we were in school, coming up elementary school, I can remember having maybe a day where we all got to present like, okay, this is the doctor that I choose, or this is the person that I choose, like George Washington Carver, and he created this, and we only got one day. So,
00:03:49
Speaker
Who are some of your unappreciated historical people in Black history?
Influential Figures in Black History
00:03:58
Speaker
Well, honestly, I think that for me, at least if I had to pick one person right now, I'm actually at my med school, we like have different houses, like that kind of just helps to separate the student body, I guess, and just create more like a social aspect to getting to know your classmates. And so I'm actually in the what I think like one of the one
00:04:20
Speaker
I don't know if it's one or two houses, but I think it's mainly one. That's my house, the Helen O. Dickens house. And she actually worked at Penn. She was a Black female OBGYN. And she's mainly known for being the first African-American woman admitted to the American College of Surgeons.
00:04:38
Speaker
She has that fee and so kind of just knowing that I'm in her house and like, you know I get to I guess be a representation of that and of what she's done and Attributed to the face of medicine. I think it's really special. So I'm gonna shout out dr Helen Oh dickens because I'm pretty sure there's not that many people who know who she is But she is one of the few unsung black heroes who's out here doing the work
00:05:02
Speaker
Yeah, for me, I'm gonna say Dr. Mae Jemison, I've always had a fascination with space. And for her, with her being the first black slash African-American woman to go to space, she spent eight days.
00:05:17
Speaker
on the International Space Station and flew on the Endeavor. And you look at where she came from, from Decatur, Alabama, you know, very humble beginnings and worked her way up all the way to get her bachelor's of science in chemical engineering and then as well as a bachelor's of arts in African and African-American studies.
00:05:34
Speaker
and then went to middle school at Cornell and has done some tremendous things in, you know, increasing the amount of minorities in the STEM fields and advocating for minorities to engage in different arenas to change our communities. You know, she's been part of countless nonprofits and been very active in the social world. And so for me, just being able to combine that, because at one point when I was going up, I wanted to be an actual Nassau physician. You know what I'm saying?
00:06:01
Speaker
And I come to fruition and see that she was a physician and made an impact amongst countless people around the world in such a very, you know, tremendous time in the early 90s. I think that says a lot about what she's done and where she's going.
00:06:19
Speaker
Right. I love those. So I selected a doctor who is in or was in the field of cardiology and I was inspired to do so because I have friends that want to go into like a cardiothoracic surgery and I really don't see a presence of
00:06:39
Speaker
or a huge presence of black men and women in that field. So I was inspired. Dr. Myra Adele Logan, and she was a native of Tuskegee, Alabama. She was the first black woman to perform open heart surgery. And according to the American Heart Association,
00:07:05
Speaker
It was the, I think, reportedly, no, not think it was reportedly the ninth time the procedure had been done worldwide. And she was also a founding partner for one of the first physicians group practices in Harlem, at Harlem Hospital in New York. So I definitely had to shout that out because in New York, that's my home. And she ended up passing away in nineteen nineteen seventy seven, excuse me, but
00:07:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's dope for women who are interested. Like I said, I have friends that are interested in that specialty. So you can do it. It's been done. Keep pushing. That's it. Period. But I mean, guys, like.
00:07:51
Speaker
I mean, just look at what's happened these recent past these recent weeks. I mean, we lost a great black female pioneer, Cecily Tyson. And I, you know, I think that it's just crazy because I always she was one of those people that I always thought, you know, that would live forever. And it's yeah, it's just crazy that
00:08:16
Speaker
like she know that she actually ended up just going and after all her legacy and everything that's come with that. Yeah, I just I really wanted to
00:08:28
Speaker
to shout her out, but I'm realizing that, Erica, you didn't say the run the list card. So we're just gonna circle back. Let's reset the room. What's up everybody? What's up everybody? Welcome to Clubhouse. Welcome to the Clubhouse edition of Lounge. We about to reset the room, all right? I think we know. Just wanna welcome everybody to the stage real quick.
00:08:49
Speaker
Welcome all the moderators. You gonna get that green bean real quick. You know, let me get my moderators going. I got my moderator all to the left. I got my moderator as well as to the right.
00:09:02
Speaker
So this is what we're gonna talk about today in the lounge episode of Clubhouse, right? Or the Clubhouse episode of the lounge. So this is our run the list portion. Here, running the lists for our preclinical patients is when you are on the wards and you're addressing the pressing matters of the day. So what we're gonna do right now on the stage, we're gonna bring a couple of y'all up and we're gonna discuss recent events in medicine that are affecting the
00:09:31
Speaker
communities and populations we serve. Some are pertaining directly to medicine, some not. So let's get into it, shall we?
00:09:39
Speaker
Yes, ma'am. And again, we really do want to give flowers to Ms. Cicely Tyson, who was a pioneer in so many ways. I was impacted by her life. I remember doing a play in elementary school, and I played the role of Cicely Tyson. Don't ask me why we were doing sound.
00:10:09
Speaker
It was like an excerpt where I actually had to like learn lines, et cetera, et cetera. Also shout out to her because not only was she born in Harlem, New York, excuse me, Harlem, New York, she was also from, or her parents rather, were from the Caribbean island of Nevis where I spent two years of my life. So shout out to her.
00:10:30
Speaker
But aside from that, she was just a mogul and amazing woman. And we just want to say thank you, Cicely Tyson, for paving the way for so many of us in so many fields, for giving us your beauty, your strength, your artistry. And we will remember you as the auntie that we all claimed you to be for us. Period. Rest in peace. Thank you. Ms. Tyson, rest in peace.
Controversies and Challenges in the Black Community
00:10:57
Speaker
Now on the flip side, we have, we got to give honor to, you know, Cicely Tyson, but we also got to realize that there are some things occurring on the other spectrum with some of these celebrities that aren't the most positive. And so let's also get into the situation with T.I. and Tiny. We know that there are some issues that happen with sex trafficking, some
00:11:22
Speaker
hidden secrets. I think that recently came to light in regards to was it that TI was involved with some sexual activity with other? Yeah. Yeah, I don't whoever wants to go into that, please.
00:11:38
Speaker
Yeah, so essentially there's been over 30 women that have come up and alleged that T.I. and Tiny have sexually abused them in some type of way. And this has been on, well, if you're from Atlanta, this kind of thing, you know, T.I. and Tiny, they move in a certain way with their marriage in regards to their dealings with other women.
00:12:03
Speaker
Right. And women are coming out and stating that they have they have essentially taken advantage of them and they have utilized their their own power and their position in culture to kind of take advantage of who these women are. And the ages vary. You know, there's been, you know, alleged reports that they've even engaged in acts with minors as well. So it's it's a lot of yeah, it's a lot of rough feathers.
00:12:33
Speaker
Yes, I'm going to say it. Are we surprised? I just feel like this is something. It's a part of the rape culture that's established within hip hop culture. It just exists. We don't talk about it because we like being at the concerts, pre-COVID, and rapping along with them. We like their brands. We like hip hop. So I think for the most part, we stand by them and just kind of sweep whatever else under the rug.
00:13:02
Speaker
My issue right now, and this is not to say that these women who have alleged what has happened, excuse me, slow down, what has happened, because I'm passionate about this. This is not to say that these women haven't experienced it
00:13:19
Speaker
But there are those who are out here clout chasing. In fact, there have been women that on Instagram, they have been found out to be lying. They're just jumping on the bandwagon. And it's unfortunate for the women who have suffered from these acts, whether it's from a rapper or just somebody's a family member. This is something that occurs within the Black community. I don't even think we can do it justice today.
00:13:45
Speaker
But it's something that has been occurring. We saw everything that went down with R. Kelly last year and in years prior leading up to his arrest and incarceration. So this is an issue. It's an issue that we really need to look into to try to help. I mean, what do we do? I'm just, I want to- Yeah, I think that
00:14:08
Speaker
It's to me, it's like it's every single time there's another story coming out about some celebrity that we thought was, you know, just just standing by and doing celebrity stuff without doing all the craziness. Like we have the R Kelly situation, we have Bill Cosby, and I don't know what it is where it's just these things get just thrown under the rug for so long and no one I guess
00:14:28
Speaker
cares to really investigate and really figure out what's going on. And then you have people who look up to these individuals who end up now just kind of defacing not only their legacy, but then how that person really interpreted who they were. And I guess maybe are questioning, well, if that's the kind of person I was looking up to, then what does that, I guess, make me or what did I miss, you know, and it's hard though to
00:14:51
Speaker
say that because you don't really know anyone, right? You can't really, especially when it comes to celebrities, you don't really know anyone. So it's like, it's hard sometimes to really see yourself through these people. And you really have to just be mindful about, I guess, who you support and, you know, who you choose to endorse and all of these things. I think that's really important. And I'm a little bit curious to really know kind of Tiny's role in it, Loki, but maybe I don't know if that's something we want to get into. But was she also involved with this or just kind of like she knew about and she just she kept quiet. I don't really know what her role was.
00:15:19
Speaker
in the situation. I would love to know it. I would love to know it. I'll be honest, I don't know it, but I would love to know. Because just like to your point, Isabella, R. Kelly had women in that circle that were assisting him. It wasn't just his dudes on tour with him. So it's kind of like, well, who else was in there with you shooting in the gym, if you will, to get you coming on board? But anyway.
00:15:49
Speaker
We got to do better. Black History Month, let's encourage each other to do better as Black people and stop this nonsense moving forward. It don't matter how many big words you use, how expeditiously you are. I think we have to band together as a community, no matter like as Erika mentioned, whether you're a celebrity, whether you're a family man, we have to combat these issues together.
00:16:12
Speaker
create a forum to discourse and discuss these issues and bring an awareness. Atlanta is number one in sex trafficking in the United States. And so it's very disheartening and very discouraging that if these alleged acts have happened that it's happening actually in Atlanta because you're reemphasizing some of the issues that plague our black community and our black women who we want to empower and we want
00:16:37
Speaker
We want them to win. We love you. As a black man, I love black women. And every time I see these issues arise where another black man is using his own clout to build a case to take advantage of other women, it's just like tasteless and heartless. And so we have to stand together and we can't allow these issues to continue to evolve. Right. We appreciate you loving us, black man. Thank you very much.
Relationships and Dating in COVID Era
00:17:04
Speaker
Speaking of black man, black woman, black love, black dating, like COVID was cuffing season February 14th is around the corner. Can you believe in New York city, Governor Cuomo is opening indoor dining February. 25%. So make your reservations people. Yeah. If you got to make one, maybe you might be making 10 or 15, but ladies and gentlemen,
00:17:35
Speaker
We don't try to get messy now during Valentine's Day. We're not trying to get too messy, but I understand though. I had a study up and I'm like, yo, let's go out for, uh, uh, like, and it's like, it's outdoor dining. It's, it's brick. Like I'm not sitting out there and it's like, you know,
00:17:54
Speaker
You can find some places with the outdoor heaters. I have friends that are actively dating because that's what my DMs are.
00:18:07
Speaker
I'm living vicariously through them. But no, let's talk for a second, Aldwin. So we know we're in the coaching season playoffs, right? We are in the championship round from actually the 31st. So today until, let's see, I think February 14th. And that's when you're supposed to lock somebody down. So where are you at, Aldwin?
00:18:34
Speaker
I'm in a championship, but it's like I got, I got a starting five and then I got a bench, you know, that I'm working on too.
00:18:50
Speaker
Not everybody at the top of the game. So you got to select who's the right person for the right time. Honestly. I have three. How about y'all, though? Even though Erica was on her cough wave, them DMs is coming, shawty. I already know, man. They coming. Heard it. Let me read for the Lord almighty. When they come, I'll let you know because they drop. When I tell you it's a Sahara. Listen. Tumblebee. Listen. But I'm focused on school. I'm focused on school. Right.
00:19:20
Speaker
And that's the way I'm on to Erica. I'm just, it's the school for me. Like, you know, it's, it's, it's more so like, I'm, you know, we're all, I think most of us are open to whatever happens, right? Like if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't, but it's like, you have to realize that things like that only come when you are fully focused on yourself, right? You got to
00:19:38
Speaker
You gotta know what you want and you have to know exactly where you stand as you are without anybody. So if that means that you aren't currently, you know, like Alduin, you got the bench, you got the three point shot, I don't know what it is, these basketball terms, whatever you got.
00:19:57
Speaker
That means that you could be focused on just trying to secure your own slam dunk, and then hopefully someone will come on the sidelines and help you out. So that's the way I'm on. I bet they have DMs on your IG. Give me your IG account log in. I'm going to check. And also, I believe they don't got no DMs. Y'all actually got DMs. Wait. I don't want.
00:20:24
Speaker
I am not giving you my IG logins, fam. That's too invasive. Yeah, now we're doing too much. We're doing just a little bit too much now. We must be every lying. But no, listen, with COVID happening, though, I have noticed an uptick in COVID babies and COVID weddings. People are out here like, you know what? And I guess it makes sense because it doesn't take
00:20:50
Speaker
it shouldn't take eight years for you to decide whether or not you want to marry somebody. Like it has been for so many of us lately. I mean, I can think back to like my parents and people, well, my parents were actually different. Let me take that back. But I can think back
00:21:05
Speaker
to other people's heads. I had met within like six months. They got married within a year, but I think COVID has really forced people to get married and just be together and start life together. So I'm not mad at it. I just hope people have not been choosing just because they, you know, it's like, oh, I'm lonely. I want somebody in my space. But what are y'all thoughts?
00:21:26
Speaker
I mean, I think it's very interesting, you know, that there's been a lot of COVID weddings. I think what it is is that a lot of people also seem to just have these prior relationships before I think COVID, you know, got to be thinking they were already in the, I guess, in the works of getting married. And I do also think that
00:21:43
Speaker
for some people also, like COVID was an excuse for them to kind of just get on with it and just, you know, jump to the wedding part just because it's like, we've had so many losses through this pandemic, we've had so much, you know, heartbreak and sadness and a lot of, you know, pretty like desolate stuff occur. And I think that people just want more happiness, more brightness in their life, and they don't want
00:22:07
Speaker
Um, to only be thinking about that. And so now it's like, okay, well, I have this great relationship that I'm in, or maybe I found this great person either before the pandemic or during the pandemic. And I don't want to waste any time I anything could happen. You know, I could, you know, catch someone could catch COVID tomorrow.
00:22:22
Speaker
and what's gonna happen. And it's just kind of like, I think people are just more focused on living in the present now and just being fully appreciative of what they have versus just waiting. So I think that's why we've had so much COVID weddings and COVID pregnancies and all these things. And yeah, I think that people just don't see the need to waste time anymore. I mean, look what we thought 2020 was gonna be some great, you know,
00:22:43
Speaker
year filled with so much happiness just because of the fact that what is it that it's a double number or whatever people were all types of theories but end up being a very very hard year so I think that people just don't want to waste time people want to just you know get on with it and get to that happiness that they want
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think with COVID, it also has emphasized with people in relationships, especially knowing that almost 50% of the US population is working at home. You're really rocking with the person when you're at home with them, because y'all are around each other. And it's forcing like, hey, I really love this person. I have no other alternative but this person to be with right now. And we're connected and bonded in such a special way that I want to move forward into marriage and move forward in my life.
00:23:29
Speaker
forever with this person. Or it could lead the other way and it's like, nah, shorty, fall back, like, yo. Or you could, you, we just, we're not rocking with each other. I'm sorry. You know what I mean? So I think that with the pandemic, it has highlighted the importance of finding ourselves and also being in tune with our characteristics and how they mesh with other people, because now it's kind of enforced that we are in a different state of mind, right? And as you
00:23:59
Speaker
we're very social creatures. And I think with COVID that has challenged that framework where we've prior to this been out, we've been able to go to concerts, we've been able to go to lounges, whatever the case may be. But now we're in a place where we're kind of contained and isolated in our own boxes. Right. All we have time to do is think like, just think and reflect and just like, what's in front of me? What do I have? And I don't want to if do I want it to stay or do I want it to go? So I think that it's a huge wake up call for a lot of people.
00:24:28
Speaker
Not only do we have time to think and reflect, we also have plenty of time to study. And I think to your point, to your point, all of it, just both Alderman and Isabella about when you actually get with somebody, you want them to be there pretty much what you shooting in the gym. And this process, if ever you find a medical student that is hesitant to go through in a relationship with you, it's because we go through so many changes within our own,
00:24:57
Speaker
designated programs, whether it's testing, tests being canceled, for example. This, right, we found out as a whole that the step two CS has been canceled.
Medical Exam Changes and Challenges
00:25:12
Speaker
According to that page today, the step two CS test of the USMLE, the United States Medical Licensing Examination has been discontinued. And there was a postponement of this exam
00:25:27
Speaker
I think from last May, due to the COVID pandemic, but now this test will be discontinued permanently. How much was that test again? Can someone remind me how much that test was? The Commlex is $1,295 on the Commlex Level 2P. Too expensive. That's how much it works.
00:25:49
Speaker
changed in New York City. That's one month right there. Like, bro, like, you're going to pay like that one month. Like, I got to take that out for rent in New York City for that exam. Go fly out to be seen on a camera, to be seen on a screen, to play doctor. I know.
00:26:08
Speaker
Let's talk about it though, right? Because I'm not, I've not reached the stage in my career within the program where I would have to take this, but I do, I as an international medical student have concerns and I would love to hear everyone's
00:26:24
Speaker
outlook on or everyone's feelings, thinking about the exams being eliminated. I know Aldwyn, you come from an osteopathic background, which I'm not sure if they tapped into that yet with the N-B-M-O-E, is it? N-B-O-M-E, my apologies. Yeah, but I would love to know your thoughts and then I'll share mine because I'm scared y'all and I'll tell you why.
00:26:46
Speaker
So honestly, like, you know, we talked about weddings, but I feel like a divorce is coming between me and the NBA on me, honestly. They sent the email out a couple of days ago, like, this test, this test test for a competence and blah, blah, blah. And then they kind of like.
00:27:06
Speaker
navigated the route of kind of trying to antagonize the MD like route of canceling the step two CS and when I'm like yo like y'all see obviously like there's a movement there's a shift occurring the exam was meant to single out
00:27:21
Speaker
international medical graduates that they deemed weren't competent enough or couldn't speak English to the level that was necessary to be successful in residency 20 years ago, 20, 25 years ago. And now I want to shift this whole framework and say, oh, the exam is meant to test for this and that, for compassion, for professionalism and all that. We have to abide by those standards and protocols when we're in our third year of medical
00:27:47
Speaker
And our first and second year as well, when we're doing Oskies and training to, you know, use a reflex hammer, training to talk to our patients, we do that. And our schools are critically focusing on focusing us on that so that when we get out there, their name is not tarnished. So we obviously have been able to. And prior to the 20, 25 years ago, the schools were doing that already and they didn't have any problems. So.
00:28:08
Speaker
I don't know why they're trying to, well, I do know why, right? You got $1,300 and you have over 2,000 students graduating from medical school every year on the osteopathic side. And that's bread. The president makes $660,000, the president of Ambioni.
00:28:26
Speaker
man if you don't get your butt out of here with that like it's all a money game honestly it's in my family like in my opinion it's really just all a money game it's all just like ways for them to just get richer it's they're not really evaluating anything at the end of the day with these exams i mean because
00:28:45
Speaker
people as we can see, it's not that important if you're just willing to just cancel it just like that. And that's not the only test they've modified. They've modified step one, they made it pass fail, we know that. And that was probably one of the most like, determining exams for anyone who wants to become a doctor in regards to just choosing a residency path. So we know that it's it's not really about really evaluating anything, but just more so another way to separate people, separate medical students, separate people who want to become doctors into these
00:29:14
Speaker
like imaginary boxes that really isn't necessary. Even if we want to talk about like pre meds who are applying to medical school and how they have to even modify like the MCAT and like some I think they're requiring MCAT scores for some people because of the way the pandemic just kind of came in like right during the thick of application season. So there's just so many factors that I think that
00:29:34
Speaker
are pretty much really fabricated and they kind of make it seem as if, oh, this is necessary to know that you're gonna become a competent physician, when really it's just another way to just isolate people and divide people who really do have their own personal and individual skills to become a great doctor, but they have to find ways to almost weed people out, for lack of a better term.
00:29:55
Speaker
Facts. Yeah. I'm happy that there are so many people that are affected by this exam that, you know, now they don't have to take it. Great. But from an IMG standpoint, I attend a Caribbean medical school. So we fall under the standards of the E-C-F-M-G and
00:30:15
Speaker
according to the ECFMG, which is the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, this exam was required in the past for Caribbean international medical students. And it used to be the qualifier in a sense, if you could kill this exam, you didn't have an issue, you know, getting a residency or even with step one, if you had a score that was higher than that of a US medical student, it was
00:30:43
Speaker
it would look better in a sense. So now I'm a little fearful about my future, what it's going to mean for myself, my colleagues, because going from a score to pass fail and now having the elimination of this exam, it's kind of like it's never been done before. We've never had to see students attempt to apply to residency without scores. So yeah, I don't know. That's where I stand. I'm happy for everybody that's happy.
00:31:11
Speaker
But I'm a little nervous for myself, so. Right. I'm glad we had that discussion and we'll see how it moves forward. We will. Sorry.
00:31:23
Speaker
Oh no, I was going to say, so we see with the step two CS being terminated that this is a first in many ways, cancellation of an examination in so many years.
Celebrating Black Pioneers in Medicine
00:31:36
Speaker
But now we got to understand and recognize and acknowledge that we have first in medicine that we don't necessarily know about. Why do you think?
00:31:46
Speaker
There's a lack of seeing these first in medicine, especially in many of our medical schools. Oftentimes, even for myself in D.O. school, I don't even know the first black D.O. graduate from my medical school. But I will say that this is the 100th year for the first black D.O. to graduate from the main campus, Pecan-Philly campus. He graduated in 1921, Dr. Metacristi. Oh, that's amazing.
00:32:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think, and I think that yeah, we still have so many firsts to go. I still have yet to see my first black professor teach me a class and I just got here. And it's, you know, and it's, it's a big transition for me coming from, you know, an HBCU from undergrad where literally almost every professor was black and now I'm
00:32:29
Speaker
in this space where I'm trying to just scramble to find one Black physician that I can connect with and kind of maybe see myself in and whatever the case may be. But I think that we're still scrambling for these firsts because the reality is that we're very poor on the numbers right now on Black people just applying to medical school.
00:32:49
Speaker
And maybe not even, let's just say, applying, but actually following through with applying to medical school and actually getting into medical school. Because, you know, there's so many people I know, at least back in Howard, who were pre-med, who fell off either due to financial reasons or due to, you know, academic reasons or just lack of mentorship, lack of guidance. And I think that, you know, it's very much a systematic issue in that Black people just aren't encouraged or aren't given the resources necessary to get to that
00:33:15
Speaker
that place to eventually become a doctor. And I think, you know, America is not really doing well with providing that support. I think that our white counterparts can say that they have much more support, much more guidance, much more mentorship, and we still have a long way to go with that. So I think that we need more first just because we need more people who look like us getting to go through the entire application cycle to begin with.
00:33:42
Speaker
I agree. And shout out to the SNMA for giving us exposure to firsts. In fact, during their National Leadership Institute, we were blessed with the presence of Dr. Sonia Sloan, who is an orthopedic surgeon out in Houston, Texas. And she attended Baylor.
00:34:05
Speaker
Baylor College of Medicine, where she was the first black female orthopedic resident there. So I mean, sometimes it takes seeing a first to get you to your purpose. And I know she inspires so many. So shout out to SNMA as always for doing that for us.
00:34:23
Speaker
period. And I you know, and let me just really quick as an aside, I mean, let me not even act as if also they're just not talking about us too. I mean, there's probably so many black physicians out there doing a lot of great work and doing a lot of things and they're just not getting any credit. And that's another point too. I mean, we know that a lot of black stories are hidden thrown under the rug. They don't want people to know about what the work that we're doing. And so let's also cause you know, call attention to that as well. That's on facts.
00:34:50
Speaker
That's our Black History Month episode. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of The Lounge.
Join SNMA's Conference and Leadership
00:34:58
Speaker
Let us know your thoughts about the discussions we had today by emailing us at podcastatsnma.org.
00:35:07
Speaker
Be sure to follow the SNMA on social media to stay up to date on upcoming events. Particularly, 8Mac is pulling up our annual medical education conference. It's love. I've had such tremendous experiences. I've met medical students all around the country. I've met attendings, I've met residents, and it's a way to empower, a way to find yourself and navigate the niche of becoming a medical student or becoming a leader that you envision yourself to be.
00:35:34
Speaker
So y'all make sure you check out AMEC. I went to a virtual conference last year, too. And even then, it was amazing. We had over 1,500 people attend. And I got to navigate learning about residencies. I got to learn about different aspects of medicine that you never thought about. I remember attending a lecture on how cannabis could be used to treat epilepsy. Like, what?
00:35:54
Speaker
You never thought that we'd be on that wave, right? So make sure you tune in is from April 1st to April 4th. The deadline for early registration is pulling up. So y'all make sure y'all get your tickets now, now, and also
00:36:11
Speaker
Speaking of AMEC, we also got our elections packet extended to February 12th. So if you're interested in any national positions, you make sure you try to put your application in. Being a leader, as for myself, being the national osteopathic committee co-chair has been a great experience being able to advocate for osteopathic medical students, but we have a plethora of positions available. So if you're interested in leadership, if you're interested in challenging yourself and being part of a greater goal in servicing the underserved and committing
00:36:41
Speaker
To all our medical students, please, please apply. We dig?