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#StillQuarantined
20 Plays5 years ago
COVID just won’t let us be great...or is it us? Civil Rights legends, traveling during a pandemic, Back to School?, America being America
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:01
Speaker
SNMA presents the lounge is proud to be sponsored by black men and white coats, an organization that seeks to increase the number of black men in the field of medicine by exposure, inspiration, and mentoring. Your audience, please support this. Pull up. We need this energy. Black men and white coats. It's amazing. It's impactful. It's going into our communities and making real change. If you're on the journey to medicine or even considering it,
00:00:31
Speaker
visit blackmenandwhitecoats.org to get tips, tricks, and mentors. Now let's start the show! Let's go!
About SNMA Presents the Lounge
00:01:01
Speaker
Hey y'all. Welcome to SNMA Presents the Lounge. Whether you're in the student lounge, the 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.
Meet the Hosts
00:01:21
Speaker
I'm student Dr. Isabella, aka the factspitter, because y'all know I love to come with that research.
00:01:29
Speaker
I'm student Dr. Aldwin, a.k.a. Dr. Get Fly, because I like to get fresh, funky, and fly. Ling Ling.
00:01:39
Speaker
Hey y'all, I'm student Dr. Erica Dingle, AKA the mother of the group, maybe? I like that one. I like it. You be nurturing us though. No? You be nurturing us. True. Nurturing us with your energy, the fruitfulness of the passion. The segue. We appreciate you. Right. We love it. Hashtag mother sister. Hashtag sister mother. All right. I like that better. Yes, yes, yes.
Legacy of Civil Rights Leaders
00:02:06
Speaker
All right, y'all. So you know what time it is. It's time to run the list. Hey, get it, get it, get it, get my whole little shit going on. For our free clinical students, running the patient list on wards allows the teams to address pressing matters of the day. So in this segment of the show, we'll be discussing some recent events in medicine affecting our communities and the populations we serve.
00:02:36
Speaker
So getting started, we want to acknowledge some civil rights giants that we lost recently. Um, so representative John Lewis, Reverend CT Vivian, y'all let's get into it.
00:02:51
Speaker
I mean, this is crazy because John Lewis really was, he was such a prominent figure. And I think we just all kind of knew him as like, MLK's right hand, right? But like, I personally just knew him as, I used to watch this PBS show called Finding Your Roots. And I remember he was on one of the episodes and he like got his ancestry tracked down. I just thought that was really inspirational that he was like, you know, trying to show the importance of finding out where you're from and all of that stuff.
00:03:19
Speaker
John Lewis, he's always been like this really prominent figure and it's unfortunate that he's gone, but he really lived a full life. So I think we can be happy about that. John Lewis is a legend. You know what I mean? Like when I lived in Atlanta, they had John Lewis Boulevard left and right. I mean, he was named.
00:03:36
Speaker
for streets. And so he was so impactful, his energy, his vigor. This man had been arrested over 40 times in his whole career. Imagine that being booked and then still being able to, you know, represent, be a congressman and be involved in your community despite having those kind of, you know, qualities of being in jail or whatever. But he was so positive. You could tell that he was really engaged and he was such a crucial aspect to the nonviolent MLK movement. I mean, he was the youngest speaker
00:04:04
Speaker
prior to mo k. I have a dream speech. I mean, the guy literally at the age of 20 was out there being active being on the front line like it just like and he met mo k or he found out about Elma K through the radio apparently like he was
00:04:22
Speaker
listening to him on the radio, and he was so inspired that he reached out. And I just think that's beautiful. That just shows you how back then, before they even had TVs or phones, like the radio was like, you know, this other, well, they did have phones, but like, you know, the radio was like their source of communication of like, what was going, that was their media, essentially. So the fact that that was even powerful then, and we see how powerful media is today with like, you know, the news and now Twitter, like, which is just right in our pocket. So I think it's beautiful. But yeah,
00:04:49
Speaker
I just hope that in their passing that there are a group or is a group of young people that is willing to carry on the mantle that they both lived. I mean, truly they lived it. And right. I mean, it would be amazing to see us move forward and live their legacy. So rest in peace to both Representative John Lewis and Reverend C.T. Vivian.
00:05:18
Speaker
Rest in peace, legends. Y'all always will remain with us. Y'all lives, what you accomplished, your spirit, endeavors will always be indebted in ourselves and in the future of the Black community. So much love.
00:05:34
Speaker
Amen. Now, you know, I think I'm going a little stir crazy because it's weak, who knows what, of quarantine.
Justice for Breonna Taylor?
00:05:44
Speaker
In addition, it's around the 130 something day of Boyana Taylor's assailant still being free.
00:05:54
Speaker
shaking my head. And it's like, I don't, you know, it's just one of those things that are we supposed to still be talking? Like, are we still supposed to be posting on our social media knowing that it's doing absolutely nothing, doing absolutely nothing.
00:06:09
Speaker
Even LeBron James came on a poll the other day and was like free, you know, arrest the people who killed Breonna Taylor. There's a whole bunch of NBA player celebrities enforcing it. Beyonce wrote a letter to the DA's office. That still has been done. This is like a huge, huge representation of injustice. If y'all go on Beyonce, if y'all ignore Beyonce, there's nothing left to do.
00:06:33
Speaker
How much money is going to your pockets? You know, the DA's office. How much money is going to your pockets? Ignore the Queen. Queen B. Beyonce.
00:06:42
Speaker
I mean, honestly, and I love Beyonce, I told y'all in the first episode, I'm a diehard B fan, like it could be Beyonce, it could be my mother, like it could be right relatives, the fact that we're getting ignored, and they're not listening, and they're not acting on this. It's just, it makes me feel like hashtag does my black life really matter? Exactly.
00:07:05
Speaker
And it's just a shame. We could harp on this all day. I think we spent the first episode talking a great deal about the issue of Black Lives Mattering in 2020.
00:07:18
Speaker
I mean, it's just it's another entanglement that we have to worry about. It's another entanglement we got to worry about and you know, I'm tired of being entangled in this situation though. I know for real approach August aka the month of entanglements but right. I'm tired of this one racism being a public health issue is the entanglement that I really could do without
Travel Concerns during COVID-19
00:07:44
Speaker
For real. Facts. So have y'all have y'all considered your travel plans in the future? Do y'all have any? Yeah, the travel. Up my block and down my block to the store.
00:08:02
Speaker
Listen. Now that travel, it's just disappointing. And the gag is that people actually are still traveling. They are. And one of my boys just went to Tampa a couple of days ago. I'm not going to say who it is, but don't be mad at me for putting you on the spot here. But some people may know who I'm talking about.
00:08:33
Speaker
We don't do that. All right. Yeah, I'm going to respect that. I respect that. I respect the New York code because isn't that is that a New York code? I think it's this street.
00:08:47
Speaker
No, people are traveling that's that's the problem. Yeah, and It's just crazy and it's not just like two countries. Yeah to Atlanta That's a that's a great point like it's not just countries wise It's just what I wanted to make a note of is that it could be just to the bars to the clubs These places where people are breathing down you like breathing in your nose like trying to order like it's just one of the most unsanitary situations and they have these businesses open and like Erica said in Atlanta and
00:09:17
Speaker
I don't really know what to make of it. Is it just the fact that people don't care? Or like, what do you guys think? Because I think because it's not like at the forefront of media, like we're not discussing the fact that so many states I see use over 90% field, a lot of them are going to diversion, which basically means that the hospital can't take any more patients and they're diverting the patients to other local community hospitals. So right about like larger scale hospitals is like, yo, we're packed.
00:09:45
Speaker
That must mean something like there's something disastrous going on with this disease. But because of our presidential leadership and because of the politics of everything going on, I think that there's not as much awareness as it needs to be. But I'm happy to say here in New York, I just moved back to New York City this last weekend, and I'm like 90 to 95 percent of people, even in the streets when I'm walking out, have their mask on. So I'm just right to my city, man. I love you. I put it on. But when I'm in Georgia.
00:10:14
Speaker
Yeah, I moved back from Georgia. In Georgia, it was like barely anybody. Like, it was like 50, 60 percent of the people. And it's just so oblivious to it. So it's interesting.
00:10:22
Speaker
But what's crazy is to date, there's only nine countries that are allowing us in their borders without restrictions. And there's 21 with restrictions. And I wonder why it's because we can't stay put and we're putting the people of these other countries at risk. I think the Bahamas recently announced, you know, they're just not letting any, any American tourists in anymore because the COVID rates increased.
00:10:47
Speaker
over the last seven days. So it just- Yeah. What does it say about America? What does it say about us? It says a lot because I think in terms of economy driving tourism or like tourism, sorry, helping to drive their economy,
00:11:05
Speaker
It's just that we it's at a point that we're abusing that system for them because we know that this is how they're making their check. This is how they're keeping either their country or their island afloat. But we know that we probably some of us is out here carrying COVID-19. And so it's like it becomes a thing of like,
00:11:24
Speaker
Are you going to take advantage of the fact that you know these people need your money, but you're willing to risk or compromise their health and your own health at the same time? And I think that's important.
Herd Immunity and Vaccination Myths
00:11:37
Speaker
It's rearing its ugly head. It's rearing America's ugly head and how we love to put ourselves before other people. And I'm gonna leave it at that. Exactly.
00:11:48
Speaker
Right and I feel like you know in many and I think for our culture like when you think about like Japan and all these places that are doing really well with COVID-19 like they have a collectivist culture like respect for other people right here in America we're kind of like individualized so we think about ourselves just like what
00:12:07
Speaker
what was just mentioned. I think it's important for us to highlight that we got to think about more than ourselves. We got to think about our communities. Every action or inaction that we engage in will affect someone down the line. It may not even be directly our relatives. It might be our best friend's grandmother's sister, who we don't know about.
00:12:25
Speaker
You know what I mean? Exactly. It's going to take not just one individual, but everybody to galvanize and understand, hey, this is a pandemic and there's lives being lost each and every day. I mean, there's over three million cases. And that's the thing. And almost 400,000 deaths in America.
00:12:41
Speaker
Exactly. And that's the thing like, and like what you said, Aldwin, if this is a community effort, this is a team effort, if you're not doing your part, then I can't do my part, you know, like it takes both of us together to do our parts. And also, I want to take note of the fact that this virus can, it can appear with no symptoms, right? We have a very clear example of that, which is Russell Westbrook, who tested positive, right? Who's on the NBA. And listen, let's talk about sports.
00:13:07
Speaker
And how easy it is to spread germ, you're blocking somebody, you're sweating on them. Some of y'all out here like tackling each other, like, come on. So it's literally the worst possible situation for you to be having this virus and then be in a career that requires you to literally put yourself in harm's way every single day. And so I want people to take note of that. I want people to just take note of that.
00:13:32
Speaker
The NBA spent several million dollars to create their bubble. But meanwhile, there's some players that actually going outside the bubble, like one player ordered, I think Chinese food or some type of like outside food to get it delivered. And he picked up the food and the NBA immediately quarantined him when they found out they had cameras everywhere. He thought he could sneak it out. So I can just imagine. And they're not allowed to have any guests. So a lot of NBA players, they do their thing.
00:13:59
Speaker
You know, if you have friends, quote unquote, you can't bring those friends in, but I'm sure there's going to be a lot more suspensions because of people trying to get in their kind of activity. You know, right. You should be suspended. And you know what, Isabelle, you brought up a really good point about people not being able to get, well, let me rephrase this. The symptoms of COVID not appearing. And now we see a lot of people thinking, Oh, let me just,
00:14:28
Speaker
try to, quote unquote, herd immunity up my kids or why they just throw their kids together. And people are out here catching COVID twice and herd immunity is not even occurring.
00:14:42
Speaker
It's not a thing. And you know what, since I'm the facts better, I'm going to give the people a real quick definition of herd immunity because you know, some people don't know it. So herd immunity is an instance where an immune group protects a still susceptible group from a disease, right? So we're assuming that it was a group of people who are immune from COVID. They could possibly protect the other people who aren't immune, quote unquote, from receiving COVID. Now I want to just tell people that that's a bunch of baloney and you need to realize that there are people out here catching COVID twice.
00:15:12
Speaker
Based on that definition, you should know that that is a fraud. Okay, so move on. Let's move on with that.
00:15:19
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's just it's just crazy. Like a couple of months ago, you hear it all over the media outlets like, yeah, we're going to, you know, you have three options or two options is either herd immunity or get this vaccine. Now it's knocked it down to pretty much only one option. Right. I mean, even myself was believing like, hey, we're probably if we if it's potential, we'll probably all get it. And then eventually this will just dissipate. But it's just making making it a really scary thought that
00:15:46
Speaker
If there's no vaccine, like this is going to like kind of be a perpetuating thing over and over. And the fact that people are getting a second time and right without getting a second time, it's not like they're asymptomatic. They're just as symptomatic as the first time. Exactly. Audience and everybody in the world, please be wary. Just because you think you've had or tested positive, that doesn't mean that you can't have it again after you stay home. Don't go to that bar. It's not that deep. Stay home. Come on. Chilling the backyard.
00:16:14
Speaker
There are reports, just for our listeners, in case you think we blowing smoke, we're not. Sweden actually attempted a bold herd immunity approach on COVID and you can Google it. They failed. They failed immensely. Immensely. The death toll rates
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah, immensely. The death toll rates, infection rates continue to rise. So, I mean, I know we have people out here that don't think a vaccine is necessary and that think COVID is fake and a hoax, but it's real, y'all. People are being affected to this day.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it's really concerning, though, when you have these political structures spread false information to citizens, because you're putting a lot of people in harm's
Black Community's Distrust in Medicine
00:17:03
Speaker
way. You know, I'm trying to say like, I understand that everyone wants to be out of the woods with this soon. But the first step is like being honest, like,
00:17:10
Speaker
No matter how painful that is, this is a disease we have no idea what it's about. We're still trying to really figure out the details of it. So to just try to tell your whole country, hey, we have immunity, come on. They need to know better than that than to do something like that because they're putting so many people in the harm's way, the elderly, the immunocompromised. I just think, Sweden, I'm sorry, but y'all need to do better.
00:17:37
Speaker
Exactly. The children. The children. And I mean, now we are coming up on back to school. Right. Listen, all the children are the future. Teach them well. No, I'm joking. But no, seriously, for people who have kids going back to school, how are y'all feeling? Is it wise? I think it's kind of wise.
00:18:02
Speaker
I think it's not wise at all. There's too much of a politicization of the children going back and forth. Should they go to school? Should they not go to school? These children, when they go to school, there should be protocols and places to protect them. We do know that typically children are asymptomatic, but that doesn't mean that they can't be carriers. When they go back home, they have grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles,
00:18:24
Speaker
And children are nasty. Like, why would children are nasty? I'll admit it. I dug my nose and ate my buggers, okay? They are very nasty. Wait, Aldo, wait. Wait, Aldo, you didn't eat anything to tell us? You didn't? Well, I don't do it now. I'm just saying. No, no, no, it's okay, though. You were honest.
00:18:48
Speaker
But for our community, right? Like think about it. We have the, um, with love and hip hop, right? One of those episodes, um,
00:19:01
Speaker
It was something about the twins never being vaccinated. Was it Erica Dixon that quoted it? I think so. Yeah, the two Ericas. Yeah. Erica Dixon and Erica Mena. And Erica, yeah. Their twins have never been vaccinated and it's just
00:19:20
Speaker
But that don't mean you're not gonna make another kid sick. I mean, I'm confused like they don't know. They don't know what measles and polio look like when you don't get the vaccine and your kid is debilitating neurologically they can't walk.
00:19:37
Speaker
all their muscles have shrinked. There's atrophy. You have encephalopathy in your brain. Your child starts feeling confused. They start not being able to talk, start blabbering. This is a problem in third world countries, unfortunately. And if people get exposed to the realities, well, all of, excuse me, not third world countries, but it's more so a problem in third world countries. But we do have this problem in countries like ours.
00:20:02
Speaker
But we see, especially during the pandemic, that a lot of children aren't getting access to these vaccines because the focus is on the pandemic. And a lot of parents are afraid to bring their kids to these clinics and get the vaccines. They're afraid that they might get COVID or their parent might get COVID.
00:20:19
Speaker
And a huge, huge like reason for that overall mistrust, especially in the Black community, is because we know the history behind it. We know the history behind it. We know from the Tuskegee syphilis experiment to just surgical experiments on slaves. Like even the so-called beloved George Washington that we continue to hail in them elementary schools used his own slaves, like forcefully extracted their teeth for his own dentures. We done called them dentures wood whole time they were from his slaves. Now look at the deceit.
00:20:46
Speaker
So I'm, I understand, I see all of the very negative history that's happened in the Black community and why we kind of have that mistrust, just because they think, oh, they're going to be somebody's guinea pig if they get vaccinated, right? And that's like, it's understandable. But we have to realize that what other options do we have? Like, listen, it's either don't get vaccinated, sorry, no, go ahead, but
00:21:09
Speaker
No, I was going to say, I think the problem that you mentioned is valid, right? Black people, I'm speaking for us, black people don't trust medicine. So us as upcoming physicians, we have a responsibility to get them to trust medicine again, right? Aside from the fact that I want to be a practitioner, I need to get my patients to trust me. And the biggest thing I think with the vaccines,
00:21:38
Speaker
in addition to the mistrust is there's not enough black people involved in these clinical trials. You know, a lot of times the clinical trials, the testing, et cetera, how, how, how can we even expect something to work for us if we're not involved? But then the question back to you, like, how do you see, I don't know if it was your practitioner, how do you see them gaining your trust?
00:22:06
Speaker
with regards to COVID, because you know, hotel medicine is running rampant right now. Let's put some essential oils on it and make it go away. How do you combat that?
00:22:18
Speaker
I think for me, combating starts with being able to be compassionate and educating our communities of color in a very enlightening way. So when patients come into your clinic or come into your practice or even in the inpatient side, being able to sit down with them and say, hey, I understand your anxiety or apprehension about my care for you, but I'm here to take care of you and treat you to the best of my abilities. I know that the historical precedence regarding medicine has not been always the best.
00:22:47
Speaker
But we are here to represent you to the best of our capabilities. And I think educating them and connecting to them on that basis and starting that initial conversation, because this is not a conversation. I don't remember any time I've ever been in a doctor's office and we've had this kind of conversation.
00:23:03
Speaker
because unfortunately medicine is kind of like you know you're in a rush trying to see patients and all that but I think having this baseline conversation especially with people of color that look like you especially will reinforce the fact that this is important and these are critical issues that we have to combat if we're going to target obesity we're going to target diabetes coronary artery disease
00:23:24
Speaker
myocardial infarction strokes, etc. So I'm, I think, you know, I think that a huge way that we could actually reach black people in general, when it comes to anything health related, or just where we need to, where we need to have them at in order to get results, is through the same way that they get their, you know, they get their other news and information, the media, every negative thing under the sun about who, you know, the show on shots from body or whatever, or, you know, there was a robbery.
00:23:54
Speaker
Like, they talk about every negative thing about Black people, but they don't want to talk about, hey, Black people are dying, got really high rates of COVID, and we need to see them.
00:24:04
Speaker
in these clinical trials, we would really appreciate more participation. And so if you are willing, I think that you should speak to your primary care physician or whatever. Y'all need to talk about the things that are actually affecting people in the way that you can reach them. No one is really going to the doctor's office unless they need their sick. So if you're talking to them in other spaces where they can get this information, you're going to see more
00:24:26
Speaker
cooperation and more participation. I think it's like very simple, but I think the media just likes to shine a light on what they deem is the stereotypes and what they want the story to be rather than what the actual story is. Meanwhile, you have a useless station.
00:24:44
Speaker
Yeah, meanwhile you have a useless update saying that the mortality rates in America are the lowest for COVID-19. But then the mortality, even if it's the lowest, the mortalities are affecting our communities. Like they're affecting communities of color and you're not even coming to that realization. You know, there's certain places where it's 60, 70% of the mortalities are people of color. And why is that not publicized in the media? Like was just said by Isabella,
00:25:12
Speaker
Well, it's because they don't really care. They don't really care. It's not something for them to emphasize, and it's not something that they deem worthy enough in their eyes to regard, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement. I guess the media thinks that they rather focus on something that's engendering that idea, and they want to neglect all our communities in regards to health and the perspectives that we come from and our experiences. So it's very disheartening, and it sheds a light on
00:25:40
Speaker
how we have to take control, take back. We got to have our own media sources. We got to have our own outlets.
Trump's Healthcare Policies
00:25:46
Speaker
I think also, Ollie, you bring up a good point, having our own outlets. But let's think about the real issue at hand. It goes back to leadership. If you consider America's leadership, then you could see why everything has run amok, right? So discussing our leadership, here we go again. Trump pulling out the dummy major.
00:26:07
Speaker
President number 45 disappoints us all once again. I'm just, I'm through with it. And he really tried it. He really tried it with the ICE situation. He really tried it. And I was concerned. I was concerned. I'll give a really quick background. Maybe if our listeners don't like kind of know what happened with that situation. But he really tried to say that if any international students were having a full on virtual,
00:26:35
Speaker
course load for their upcoming semester that they would need to go back to their country and complete the semester. Now, I think that is a testament to the kind of president we have in our office. And, you know, he really tried it. And I'm glad that whoever it was got to their senses and repealed that foolish statement. So, but I want to know what you guys think about that, because
00:26:57
Speaker
How, if that had came through or even the prospect of it coming through, what would that have done overall to the state of affairs that's already occurring right now in our country? I mean, I think it's a huge injustice. I mean, if that had actually gone through because so many, I mean, I know, I know a student currently that's from Jamaica and she was like very, she was having a lot of anxiety regarding that because where do you go, right? You don't even have family.
00:27:22
Speaker
Over here so you're gonna have to go back to your your whatever country you're from and then the feasibility of that like you've already planned your life for this upcoming year to be in college and so it's it's very disheartening that someone who could be so so
00:27:39
Speaker
unaware of how that could influence our college communities and how could especially influence the political side of things, right? Right. And apparently I just got word that it got repealed actually because of lawsuits. So Harvard, MIT, these really big institutions
00:27:56
Speaker
sued. So I'm glad that those institutions spoke up and defended their international students. So that's important. We need our institutions to support people who are underrepresented and not really supported in this system because it's a really, really painful and sometimes just completely unfair system, especially with number 45.
00:28:20
Speaker
Like, yeah, my man fell back super quick when that lawsuit hit his desk. Like, oh, yeah, I'm going to just chill. That's right. You're doing wrong by people. We're going to make sure that you continue with him doing wrong. Pulling out of the W.H.O. Ultimately leaving global health efforts behind. This guy just disappoints everybody. But now we can't I think we're the
00:28:48
Speaker
what's happening as a result of that is we can't send COVID data to the CDC anymore. So it's like, what exactly was your goal, sir? What exactly? Did you have no idea?
00:29:03
Speaker
I mean, who else are we supposed to turn to? It's the WHO. Like, I don't know. Does Trump, like, does he think that he has multiple certificates and what do you call it, like degrees? I don't get it. Like, he thinks he could just eradicate America from all of these other entities that we need to survive. He, you barely, what, he got a business degree? What else he got? Like, come on. Oh my God.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. Like, where does this notion come from? Like, he's just doing whatever he wants. And it's just it's just interesting, right? If we think back to if Obama did any of these things, there would just be so much ridicule and people wouldn't even take him seriously. Exactly. In the current state of affairs, someone is able to get away with so much and not get any type of high level criticism from his own constituents. Like, people are still supportive of every decision he makes. Like, even you see in Georgia, like the governor of Georgia is like,
00:29:57
Speaker
one of the hugest Trump supporters and he's like, yeah, y'all don't, he's not mandating masks for specific areas in Georgia. Like he's like, y'all could do whatever y'all want. So just the whole warfare that's going on. And I mean, it's interesting. And we know Trump and we know Trump is flip-flop because he just want to get them poll numbers. All right.
00:30:13
Speaker
We know he's flip-floppy because he wanted to get them those poll numbers and like he's now trying to like turn towards like his focus on the virus and combatting because he wants people to quote unquote vote for him and all that stuff and we can even talk about the mass how before with the masks like he didn't even seem like he was serious about it and I
00:30:31
Speaker
It's the mass thing, you know, I don't understand why it's so hard for people to just put a mask on their face when, you know, going outside because they want to scream my body, my choice. Where was my body, my choice? When the Supreme Court did the reproductive health ruling, where was that? But it's a lot of hypocrisy. It's a lot of hypocrisy.
00:30:52
Speaker
Then you got our black, our black mayor. Yes. Yes. Bottoms. Yeah. Bottoms of black woman who's trying to enforce these mask mandates. And right now, now she's targeted. So, I mean,
00:31:10
Speaker
Yeah. The governor of Georgia sued Keisha Lance Bottoms and the city council of Atlanta because of the mask mandates. And it's just unfortunate the lies that will irrevocably be lost because of this. But what I love about it and shout out to black woman like y'all stand firm. Y'all stand strong. She was like, I'm still doing this. Like I could sue me all you want. But the lies of the people in Atlanta is what I care about most. So
00:31:36
Speaker
We're going to keep this pushing. I'm still going to close all the bars. It's going to be dying out. Y'all going to wear your masks and we're going to try to target this virus and decrease the rates because Georgia is just up, up, up, up and climbing. You know, it's 5'6 right now. You know, meanwhile, like a last month, it wasn't, but it's just interesting to see how people are waging this political warfare at the detriment of our members of society.
COVID-19's Impact on Employment and Insurance
00:32:00
Speaker
It's sad.
00:32:01
Speaker
And honestly guys, with the COVID pandemic, people have experienced job loss.
00:32:11
Speaker
I mean, 5.4 million and loss of insurance. So just kind of tying back everything we've talked about, like with vaccinations, with healthcare, with trying to get access, with getting the education. Now you got a community of people, our people, without insurance. I can only imagine what the stats are like per race. You know what I mean? Whether it's for black people, for Caucasians, et cetera.
00:32:41
Speaker
It just doesn't seem like it's getting any better, and COVID seems like it's going to be around for a little bit longer than we anticipated. Seriously, and it's unfortunate, but you know what? I think it's just going to come to a point that we have to all do our part to hopefully let this disease, this virus, whatever you want to call it, it's not leaving. We know it's not leaving, but at least be
00:33:05
Speaker
in society and we are able to live with it being in society because we're taking the right measures. We hopefully will be vaccinated whenever that vaccine is ready and we'll just we'll put in our we'll put in our armor and get ready to fight this battle because it's not just at least we know we're not fighting it alone. We have everybody else in the world that we have to fight this with so.
00:33:26
Speaker
That's the fact, and it's and I think it's important when you think about so many people losing their insurance like how do you get access to, you know, health resources, and a lot of these people are from communities of color. So they're truly at a disadvantage I mean 5.4 million people, that's a lot of people that
00:33:43
Speaker
aren't necessarily having the opportunity to be taken care of, see their doctors, be in a state of emotional and physical comfort. And so there's a lot of work that's to be done. And this pandemic is revealing a lot of issues regarding inequality and access to care. So we've got to continue to push the envelope and represent well and make sure that people are put in good positions to move forward with their lives. And we're not doing that. Absolutely. Yeah.
00:34:10
Speaker
Well, this was a good dialogue and seeing as how the COVID class of 2021 will be embarking on their job search journey soon. When we reconvene next month, we'll be discussing the ugly sides of professionalism in medicine and how black people, women, right, experience it.
00:34:35
Speaker
Luckily, I'm in the class of 2022 because of COVID. So shout out to class of 2021. But it's interesting how things have shifted with the pandemic and how we're moving forward. But they've been really, really resourceful and innovative. Like I said before,
00:34:52
Speaker
and early in another podcast, I'm part of the group, me and the class of 2021. And so I just see all the amazing work and the efforts, especially with SNMA doing the sowing seeds. Shout out to SMMA for that, doing the virtual residency fair, which we'll be mentioning a little bit later on, more information about. So we, we push an envelope and it's going to be crazy matches for our communities. Like I really see it top notch. We hit it. Okay. That's what I want to say.
00:35:24
Speaker
All right. Yeah. So next week will be professionalism. And I look forward to that conversation because it's going to be a lot. And that's our list this week. We'll be back after a quick advertisement.
00:35:36
Speaker
SNMA presents the lounge is also grateful to the Levi Strauss Foundation for their support of the podcasts in the work SNMA is doing. We appreciate y'all. So big shout out to the Levi Strauss Foundation for holding us down. Now let's get back to the show.
00:35:55
Speaker
During each episode, we like to acknowledge SNMA and MAP chapters doing great work. So this one goes to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, SNMA chapter. They've created this hashtag called the hashtag Remember 1619 campaign.
00:36:12
Speaker
So you make sure you follow them at URSNMA at Twitter and Instagram. In 1619, the first enslaved Africans were brought to us in America. So Rochester SNMA wanted to highlight this for the Black History Month. But unfortunately, their school was like, nah, we shutting it down. We stopping y'all. So in the midst of everything going on with the COVID crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement,
00:36:36
Speaker
University of Rochester SMA wanted to put on and make sure they represented and ensured that there was education and information that was spread about this unfortunate circumstance and events that occurred. So I'm going to talk to you about the quick thread
00:36:50
Speaker
that URSNMA put out. They said the comforts afforded to some are at the expense of black lives and wellbeing. Racism and the privilege it affords white individuals has only continued to exacerbate the disparities in health outcomes for black and brown people. It must be said. Racism is a public health issue. So make sure y'all check out the pinned tweet. URSNMA, shout out to y'all. We love y'all. Continue doing what y'all do.
00:37:21
Speaker
We live big up. This is our first listener letter. I'm so happy and proud to announce that we have people who put in for these letters. So our first big up is to Jasmine McNeil. And she said, I absolutely love the first podcast. A personal topic of interest would be an episode on the racial disparities among black women that has been leading to the disproportionate rise in maternal mobility.
00:37:48
Speaker
I felt that each of the hosts brought amazing energy and personality to the show. I am super excited about what's to come on the upcoming episodes.
00:37:57
Speaker
Aw, well, thank you, Jasmine. I think that was... I think that's really nice for you to say those nice things about our podcast. And also, yes, I'm with you. Black women keep getting the shorter end of the stick. And I know Erica agrees with me. I know it. Me too. Don't forget about me. I agree too. What are you trying to say? We have Erica's time right now, so we trying to...
00:38:26
Speaker
So yeah, we are we are definitely on that same path and hopefully we can talk more about that next month on our episode about When we interview our interviewer or interviewee on professionalism Yeah, definitely want to say shout out to Jasmine Jasmine I have to say is a member of the newly formed SNMA chapter at my institution and I'm thankful that she actually tuned in and the topic of
00:38:56
Speaker
maternal health and maternal morbidity for, especially for women of childbearing age, it hits us a little different. Um, cause we, it's something that we see happen way too much in our community. So Jasmine and everybody else that has this topic at, at your mind and in your heart, don't worry. We will come with that heat and make sure that it's addressed point blank period. Big up to Jasmine. We appreciate you and your words and thanks for tuning in.
00:39:27
Speaker
For this listener letter, Kirby Godfrey put on and they wanted to say, I just wanted to take a moment and share how much I love listening to your podcast. The group offered such a fresh perspective that linked pop culture with medicine, which made it so relatable.
00:39:43
Speaker
I really look forward to the next episode. Considering the times we are in, I'd love to hear more about COVID and its impact on the mental health of doctors, medical professionals, the school dropout rates, and the overarching impact the pandemic could have on the profession of medicine.
00:39:59
Speaker
In the first episode, you guys touched on the racial injustice and discrimination happening across the US. I'm also really interested in the group's perspective around racial bias in the practice of medicine and medical education. I think the three of you are so talented and I wish you much success in this endeavor and your medical careers. I prayed God's continued favor over you all. Keep up the great work. Ooh, I love that. Yes. So beautiful. So warm.
00:40:28
Speaker
So beautiful. Very, very warm. I'm smiling. I don't know about y'all. It's good to know that people actually listen to everything that we say on the show. And I think this letter is...
00:40:45
Speaker
Um, it actually speaks to the fact that, yeah, we didn't just tune in. I didn't just tune into the beginning. I actually listened to the whole episode, right? She brings up a really good point y'all as far as COVID impacting the medical health of doctors and medical professionals. Um, and then I didn't even think of this part ever, like it never crossed my mind school dropout rates and just the effect of the pandemic on students.
00:41:14
Speaker
And it's been coming at really high numbers if you think about it. And no one's, sorry, really talking about it. Like, it's something that's happening. And I think that people are aware that it's happening, but no one's really giving too much attention to it because everyone's focused on, well, we need these people to help us get better. But then it's like the people who are giving the help, right? What about them? They need, you know, support as well. So thank you, Kirby, for listening to the entire episode and for giving that great feedback. I think that's really important.
00:41:44
Speaker
definitely something that needs to be discussed just moving forward indefinitely. So thank you. And yeah, I know I got to put on real quick for the mental health aspect because I'm an aspiring future neuropsychiatrist. And so we know with mental health in regards to all our physicians and all our health care providers that they've been burdened in many ways. Like you have the anxiety of dealing with people who may have COVID-19, the anxiety of dealing with your profession, the anxiety of dealing with your colleagues. And so
00:42:12
Speaker
We oftentimes talk about the fact that we have so much responsibilities in these positions to take care of other people, but also take care of ourselves. And sometimes we have to make that sacrifice to not take care of ourselves, to take care of other people. Sorry if that was a tongue twister, but
00:42:27
Speaker
I really wanted to get that out. So big up to all the doctors and all the frontline providers, all the nurses, the EKG techs, the radiologists, the radiology tech, all of you. We appreciate that. And then thank you, Kirby, for this message. It was really heartwarming and inspiring. So we appreciate you on the bottom line. Thanks, Kirby. Thank you, Kirby.
00:42:49
Speaker
So, our next listener letter is from Anonymous. Let's see what this person got to say. Oh, this spicy. When someone coming anonymous, you know it's gonna be spicy, all right? Let's go. I'm gonna be anonymous. Facts. So.
00:43:05
Speaker
They said last month's episode was an awesome start to this podcast. Great job to all involved. I don't want to read this. I just want to comment about that Joker. Aldrin's hot take about six time being the best rapper. What in the Technicolor dream coat was that opinion? Everybody.
00:43:26
Speaker
Great. Everybody should have clowned them for the rest of the episode. I just about had a heart attack when I heard that, which is the opposite of uplifting the black community. Keep up the great work on making medicine relevant to the communities we serve, no matter how hot the hot take.
00:43:44
Speaker
Okay. I would just like to say on the behalf of Aldwin, this is from me and Erica, that we have no responsibility on what was said on this podcast that came out of Aldwin's mouth. We love him, we respect him, but we have no ties to this and I'm going to leave it at that. We love you, though, Aldwin. Thank you. Aldwin do not represent the views of those hosts that host with Aldwin.
00:44:11
Speaker
But I will say, I will say that that's how I feel. And I always believe in honesty. I'm currently rereading Charlamagne the God's book, Opportunity Comes to Those Who Created Black Privilege. And it's like being honesty, as Erica mentioned, is the best policy because people feel the true energy. And I want y'all to feel the true energy. I'm not hiding nothing that says what I said.
00:44:33
Speaker
Like I said, I said it. And if y'all want to get at me, get at me. And anonymous, you lucky. You lucky. I don't know you. Anonymous didn't put their name on there, but anonymous email me. We can have a discussion. We don't call threatening people on this vlog. I'm not threatening them.
00:44:49
Speaker
I'm not saying that, I'm just joking though, don't do it. I love that, yeah. I was just, anonymous though. Email me, email me though, so we can have a discussion or debate. Maybe we could bring you on a podcast and then we'll see where we go from there. Oh yeah. Can I just ask though, what is your interest with this, what's his name again? The 6ix9ine character? Takachi. Takachi, 6ix9ine. I'm just wanting to know.
00:45:17
Speaker
I'm not necessarily interested in Tekashi 6ix9ine, but I'm interested in hip-hop culture. And from what I've seen, you look at the numbers and numbers, rules, all in my opinion, as it as it regards to what I said. And I said that he was the hottest rapper. I did not say that he was the best rapper. He's the hottest rapper at the time.
00:45:38
Speaker
which means that he had a lot of numbers and he was promoting himself in a way that was getting to people internationally, locally, globally, et cetera, et cetera. So that's all I said. But he's definitely not the best rapper. So you have a debate about who the best rapper is. But that's another topic we talk about in a day. I appreciate you. We're not going to hold it against you. Thank you. I still love y'all, though, too. So appreciate y'all kind of fake support, but support, you know.
00:46:08
Speaker
And I think that does it guys for our listener letters this week. Just as a reminder, we love to hear from you. So if you have anything that you'd like to contribute to the SNMA podcast, send in your letters, send in your suggestions to podcast at snma.org.
00:46:31
Speaker
word, make sure you guys send them in. We look forward to reading them. It's been a pleasure reading the first three listener letters and I look forward to some and y'all could get at me all you want. So I love y'all. Appreciate it.
00:46:45
Speaker
To join the conversation and provide your opinion, please reach out to us at podcast at SNMA.org with your thoughts on this week's episode for a chance to be featured in Consults, our listener letter segment. And if you know a maps chapter, an SNMA chapter, or an SNMA alum doing big things, we want to hear about that too. Email us to get a shout out on the show.
00:47:12
Speaker
Here in the lounge, we want to make sure that everyone is prioritizing their mental health. These are stressful times, and we want to make sure that you are all taking care of yourselves. So we have some simple ways to incorporate wellness into your busy schedules. Today, we'll be focusing on gratitude, even in the midst of despair.
00:47:31
Speaker
Now, I want you to think about a personal situation that is less than ideal right now. For me, that has been starting medical school during a pandemic, as there's a possibility that I may miss out on some crucial first-year in-person experiences like having a virtual anatomy class.
00:47:47
Speaker
Also, another good question to think about is, is there any good at all in it? I think it's taught me that just like medicine, anything can happen and you must be willing to adapt. Now, if you want to on your own, you can answer these questions as well. What can you learn specifically from this experience and how can you benefit from this? Is there anything about the situation that you can be grateful for?
00:48:10
Speaker
I want you guys to reflect on those questions I just asked and be sure to incorporate it into your own daily routine. Thanks for following along, guys. Thanks so much for joining us for this episode of The Lounge. Let us know your thoughts about the discussions we had today by emailing us at podcast at snma.org.
00:48:35
Speaker
Be sure to follow the SNMA on social media to stay up to date on upcoming events like Sewing Seeds. Join SNMA every Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. for the Sewing Seeds specialty series. You will hear from incredible physicians of color as they share their experiences in various specialties. All sessions stream on Facebook Live and recordings are made available afterwards. And guys, this is a really good resource, so I'd encourage you to join in.
00:49:06
Speaker
My peoples, make sure you check out the Virtual Residency Fair, slated for September 10th from 1 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time and September 12th from 11 to 4 Eastern Time. This Virtual Residency Fair is dedicated to giving our members who are applying the cycle
00:49:22
Speaker
the ability to have some dedicated FaceTime with programs across the nation. So if you're a fourth year, make sure you tune in. Make sure you sign up and have this opportunity to get connected with residency. Your job awaits you and your dreams are here. And SNMA is providing you the opportunity to do so. So please stay tuned. We put you out on soon enough as we get more information. Ha!
00:49:46
Speaker
We just want to thank you guys for listening again. And for the people who are returning to school, we wish you the best of luck in this upcoming semester. Tune in next month for our next episode of SNMA Presents the Lounge. Peace.
00:50:20
Speaker
Bye!