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The Weaponization of Professionalism on the Black Doctor with Dr. Magdala Chery
28 Plays5 years ago
We invited Dr. Chery, Commonwealth Fund Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to the Lounge to discuss what medical professionalism means and how to navigate it successfully as a black healthcare worker.
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Transcript
Introduction to Professionalism in Healthcare
00:00:00
Speaker
What's up, everybody? Just wanted to welcome you to a special episode of SNMA Presents the Lounge. We are interviewing Dr. Sherry on professionalism as minorities in healthcare. Stay tuned and thanks for tuning in.
Interview with Dr. Magdala Sherry
00:00:39
Speaker
Hey, y'all. So I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Magdala Sherry today. Dr. Sherry is a former assistant professor of medicine at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, New Jersey. She was named one of South Jersey magazine's top docs in 2018 and 2019. Dr. Sherry was also among South Jersey's leading physicians making a noticeable impact in the healthcare world.
00:01:09
Speaker
Most recently, Dr. Sherry has suffered the loss of her father due to COVID-19. Through this tragic experience, she personally witnessed the impact of injustice and racism in our healthcare system, realizing that her father's story was simply an amplified narrative that exists in our
Advocacy and Campaigns: #NotJustABlackBody
00:01:28
Speaker
communities.
00:01:28
Speaker
She turned her pain into purpose and created the hashtag, not just a black body campaign. This platform is dedicated to honoring the black lives that were cut short from COVID-19 while equipping the community with knowledge on the injustices and racism embedded in the healthcare system. She has an interest in evaluating policy to address trauma informed care for black women, social determinants of health unification into the electronic medical record,
00:01:58
Speaker
and the integration of mental health and primary care. Dr. Sherry holds a bachelor's degree from Montclair State University, received her medical degree from Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Connecticut.
Educational Journey and Harvard Fellowship
00:02:17
Speaker
This year, Dr. Sherry was named a recipient of the 2020-2021 Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University.
00:02:28
Speaker
She is currently completing her fellowship at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Welcome, Dr. Sherry. How are you today? I'm doing okay. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much again for being here. So today's interview is going to be on professionalism in the medical field, the lack there of everything that we experience as minority medical professionals and
00:02:55
Speaker
You are the guru when it comes to all things professionalism. So I just wanted to get started with some questions and let's get into it. How's that sound? Sounds good. Let's go.
Defining Professionalism for Minorities
00:03:08
Speaker
So.
00:03:09
Speaker
One of the issues often mentioned is that professionalism kind of seems to be whatever people in positions of authority feel like it is on a given day. So opening up this interview, I just kind of want to ask, how would you define professionalism in the medical field? Um, great question. So
00:03:29
Speaker
I think before we can answer that question, let's step back. And we have to talk about the historical context of professionalism. So to the point you've made, a lot of times it's left up to the person in authority to tell us what is deemed professional. And I think quite often the confusion is, especially when we're talking about people who are minorities, who identify as being Black or Latino or Latinx,
00:03:57
Speaker
you quite often feel that professionalism is a trade-off of who you are authentically. And that is not what it's supposed to be, right? I think we can all agree, going into this profession, you are going to be someone's doctor one day, right? You want to present yourself as someone who can be respected, especially when you have age working against you, the minority stereotypes, you want to be respected,
Challenges in Authentic Professionalism for Minorities
00:04:20
Speaker
right? And that's what professionalism gives you. It gives you the opportunity to be respected as an expert.
00:04:26
Speaker
So when we talk about professionals and the way I look at it, you should not be compromising who you are and what you represent to prove that you're a professional. I see it as it means if we're gonna have a universal definition of presenting yourself in a neat manner, having a proper demeanor, whether that's in person or online, being reliable, being competent, being a great communicator, having good etiquette. There's nothing about that that said that
00:04:56
Speaker
code switching is not professional. Your hair is not professional. Being comfortable with who you represent and the background and community come from should not be confused with that. So I think that is where a lot of, when I'm mentoring a lot of black students, they almost feel put at odds with being professional and representing themselves in a field that doesn't often have much representation.
00:05:26
Speaker
Wow, that's, you said something so profound, compromising like who you are, or not having to compromise who you are, regards to professionalism. And I know that is something I've had conversations about with some of my colleagues, because you know, we have natural hair, we like to wear certain clothing, you know, sometimes for, you know, our black bodies as women,
00:05:53
Speaker
We're more shapely in certain outfits and even that can be deemed unprofessional. So thank you for sharing your personal definition, which I think we all should adopt on.
00:06:08
Speaker
on professionalism pretty much. Right. Right. So if I were to summarize and like, just cause I know I hit on a lot of points for a student who's like, okay, so I want to be me, but I also want to make sure that I am presenting myself professionally. It's all the things that I mentioned before about being, um, having a proper demeanor, being reliable, being competent, um, being a good communicator.
00:06:32
Speaker
being someone who's poised, who's ethical, organized, and ultimately accountable, right? Because that's what you're going to do as a future doctor, as a future health professional. You're going to be accountable for lives. That is what it means to be professional.
00:06:48
Speaker
And that's where you should stand on. So, and the reason why I think that's important is because if someone were to write that you're unprofessional in your evaluation or call you that, you can say, well, excuse me, um, that is your feedback, but I'd like to know in the, in the realm of the things that I previously mentioned, where do I fall short? Well, you come in with your hair looking a certain way or.
00:07:12
Speaker
You know, we're on rounds and you're code-switching to a patient. No, that has nothing to do with it, right? So if you have a clear indication of the qualities that should be represented as a person who is a budding professional in this field, now when you have to advocate for yourself, stand up for yourself, you know by what criteria you should be asking questions. I love it. Demeanour, reliability, being poised, ethical and accountable.
00:07:37
Speaker
key takeaways. I love it. I love it. Um, so in staying with this same vein, if you will, um, with regards to the development of black and brown physicians in relation to our white counterparts, um, what do you, what would you, I guess say effects or what effects does the culture of professional identity have on our training?
Cultural Challenges and Systemic Issues
00:08:06
Speaker
Oh, it has a huge effect. It has a huge effect. So let me share a little bit of my narrative, which may help with the conversation. I know for me, I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. So I've always been, I guess, my mom has always instilled in me, make sure you look a certain way, talk a certain way, behave a certain way so they can see that you're an equal, or at least you're in the same playing field. When I think about it now, I'm like, that probably wasn't
00:08:36
Speaker
the best way to think about it. But the reality is, it's what a lot of our parents have to tell us, right? Just to even think like we have a chance in the room. So I know I've been used to that all my life through college, graduate school, medical school. And when I got to residency,
00:08:51
Speaker
And I was going through a lot of microaggressions in residency by patients, by staff in particular. I was really confused. I'm like, I don't understand. I'm talking a certain way. I'm articulating my words. You know, at that time I had relaxed hair and I was really confused. And at the same time, it was like 2014 when I started residency. So we were really starting to get a media attention around police brutality.
00:09:17
Speaker
especially after the year before where the Trayvon Martin trial did not end up the way we wanted it to, right? And that's when white coats for Black Lives came about. And so many things. So for me, I was in this weird space where I wasn't accepted at work when I went into the hospital, but then I'm seeing things happening in my society.
00:09:43
Speaker
And I'm wondering, well, I'm not wearing a hoodie. I'm not doing what is stereotypically deemed just too black, but then I'll come and I represent and I have a white coat and I have a badge and that's still not professional enough for you. Like I don't look like the professional you're expecting. So for me, when I decided to go natural or just start to embrace my own self, it really, I kept wrestling with myself. Why am I not being professional? Am I not falling in line with things? So I share that to say that people forget that
00:10:13
Speaker
being Black in this country really means that you are constantly switching between different worlds. Like you're literally living this duality exactly always. Like you're always living a duality which can sometimes present as a conflict. And then that breeds imposter syndrome. And then you think you're being unprofessional. And you're literally fighting with yourself
00:10:36
Speaker
Constantly, I was telling a friend of mine, because I'm in fellowship. And I had spoken up in class. And I told her, it's crazy how before I even spoke up, I was nervous about what I was going to say, how I was going to say it. I didn't want to sound angry. But then I didn't even sound impassionate. I didn't want to sound like I was letting these emotions overtake me. But the topic was so important and dear to me. And I said to her, I was like, how many of our white counterparts care about this when they have to talk?
00:11:04
Speaker
And she's like, I'm leaving. So I think that's really, that's probably what a lot of our trainees and even a person who's in attending now, you go through. You're sitting in these board meetings. You're sitting in these places where no one looks like you. You're hearing things being said that are off the cuff. You want to say something, but then you don't want to sound angry. But you still want to make it a point because you feel like if you don't speak up, then you're going to let this stereotype sit away outside of the classroom or outside of the boardroom or outside of this rotation.
00:11:33
Speaker
So it's a constant struggle. It's a constant struggle of knowing when to speak up, when not to speak up, when to represent, how to represent, and how to do it in a way that doesn't take away from your qualifications as being a medical professional or a medical professional in training.
Personal Value and Advocacy in Medicine
00:11:54
Speaker
My goodness. Did I put a cord? You definitely did. It's exhausting, and I think
00:12:02
Speaker
I had an experience recently that I'll share with you, um, with regards to the all lives matter movement. And, um, yeah, in one of my group chats and to your point, Dr. Sherry, I was trying not to sound like the angry black woman, right? Just, and it was presented like happy fourth of July, all lives matter. And we're a class of.
00:12:29
Speaker
maybe 35 and at least 10 of us are black. And it was a slap in the face. And the student that made the comment just, we tried to reason with her and she couldn't get it. And we, we were just like, what, what can we do to make, make our colleagues and coworkers understand what we're experiencing?
00:12:52
Speaker
and stay professional at the same time. So, you know, a polite read here and there sometimes can help, but I mean, your experience resonated with me. That's why I had to say on that one. And it's not even to even push against like, it's not even just the all lives matter. I know for me, I had put up a post on my social media kind of addressing the white coats for black lives movement, which
00:13:21
Speaker
I love
Addressing Hypocrisy and Racism in Healthcare
00:13:22
Speaker
the premise of it and why it was started. What bothered me, if I'm going to be completely transparent, is I know about a week or two after things went crazy in the world, after the George Floyd murder and tragedy, there were a bunch of protests at different hospitals, at different institutions, and I could not partake. I tried, I found a couple
00:13:50
Speaker
around me and I just couldn't do it because I thought it was hypocritical. I thought it was hypocritical for our own colleagues, classmates or whoever it may be who watch their own black classmates go through racism, go through discrimination, go through microaggressions and give them no space, no validation. Don't even stand up for one another.
00:14:18
Speaker
Um, and then you want to go kneel outside. Right. Me personally, I'm not against anyone who did it. I, I, what I'm bringing up is we need to stop putting up fronts. And if we're going to change healthcare, especially in this COVID-19 era and really address some of these key systematic issues like systemic racism and bias in healthcare or talking about, um, the way that we project professionalism to minorities and blacks.
00:14:47
Speaker
in training or who are done or who are medical professionals, we have to first look at ourselves. And to me, it just seemed like a front where everybody's like, yeah, I want to show that I'm about the movement. But your classmate just had a derogatory term said to them, and you didn't stand up for them. Right. Or they're on rotations, and you are literally undercutting them, being disrespectful, allowing stereotypes to perpetuate to patients. And you don't say anything. And I'm supposed to believe that you care about George Floyd's life.
00:15:15
Speaker
I can't believe that because if people who are almost your equal can't garnish your respect and you speaking up, I don't know why I would think you would speak up for the person who's the most vulnerable on the street. So I would even say it's not even just about the All Lives Matter movement. It's even within our own community, are we really being truthful about what really exists here? Wow. This is a lot to think about.
00:15:42
Speaker
Sorry. No, this is good. I mean, a lot of us, we have these conversations every day amongst ourselves. And I think you've said everything that I've personally felt, but just haven't articulated with others. Like, okay, go ahead and kneel outside if you want, but are you going to have my back when it comes down to what's going on at the institution level? I doubt it. Right. So I think that is important to, to stand your ground in a sense. You know what I mean? Right. Right.
00:16:12
Speaker
I think answers your question because you said something before about like, you know, how do I get them to understand us? I've kind of given up on the understanding of our personal experiences. I think we have to get to the point where we understand our own value in this system. And when you understand your own value in this system, what you bring to health care, why you're doing this, why you're putting up the hours, why you're studying, why your voice matters,
00:16:42
Speaker
You now don't back away from your voice. You don't back away from your authority.
00:16:46
Speaker
So when things are happening within your classes, cause I've seen stories, I've seen things happening at different medical schools and months to black students and things that are like coming to light on social media or students who send me messages in my DMs about what they're experiencing, when you can understand your own value and your voice, you will speak up. And part of that is calling people out, bringing attention of things that happen and telling your leadership and administration, this is not okay.
00:17:15
Speaker
because if they can do this here, what happens when they have power as a physician? How are they going to treat people who look like me and who can't speak up and advocate for themselves? I think that is where we have to shift
Personal Loss and Activism Against Racism
00:17:28
Speaker
our focus. We have to speak up because like you, I've been having this conversation nonstop with so many of my Black professional friends, but we're not talking about it out loud. Wow. Understanding our voice and our value or understanding our value
00:17:44
Speaker
and our voices and changing the narrative. That's what I got from that. You are giving me so much encouragement today, Dr. Sherry. I try. I don't even think you know. You don't know you over here changing our lives one question at a time. So I wanted to ask you, I know you started an initiative for it's hashtag not just the black body that came through, I believe it was through the COVID-19
00:18:12
Speaker
loss of your father, was it? Is that how it came to be? Yes, I actually ended up losing both my parents in the pandemic. But my goodness. And then she started with my father. So he would be sick like a third week of March when the really early on in the pandemic. And I ended up taking him to the hospital. He didn't want to tell me he was sick.
00:18:38
Speaker
He, my background station. So a lot of our cultural, there's a lot of cultural distrust and mistrust of our healthcare system.
00:18:50
Speaker
It's very common even despite the fact that I'm a physician, but overall they don't feel like the system is on their side, which is very common to a lot of immigrants and underserved populations. So he was afraid. My mom had a lot of chronic diseases. My father actually had no preexisting conditions. And I make it a point to say that because I'm really bothered by the narrative that the reason why the numbers are really bad in the black community is because we're not healthy. And that's not the case. A lot of it is because of racism.
00:19:18
Speaker
But he would get sick. My mom was already had preexisting positions. He didn't want to go because he didn't have health insurance. He was afraid about the bill because we don't come for money. I convinced him to go and the hospital he went to is in an urban area. It services the underserved, the black, the brown community, the immigrant community. I was there for the first 24 to 36 hours that he was in the hospital. And it was under resourced.
00:19:48
Speaker
I heard them running out of oxygen tanks. There wasn't enough PPE. It was completely eye-opening. And I said, oh my gosh, they are not showing this on TV. They are not talking about this the way it needs to be talked about. So even while he was in the hospital, because he was there for almost two weeks, I was really moved to say I have to be the change. And I have to do something different. And I can't silence my voice anymore.
00:20:13
Speaker
Unfortunately, my father would pass away in the hospital. It was due to neglect without getting into specifics, but definitely due to neglect, due to not having enough resources and staff. And the way he died will be something that always bothers me, especially as a medical professional. And what would really be hard to take in is the fact that I lost so many people within my church.
00:20:42
Speaker
Um, within my black group of friends, almost all of us know someone directly that we lost either within our family or extended family or extended friends. And in my mind, I said, you know, we keep talking about cases and numbers, even now we're almost at 200,000 deaths, but no one talks about the lives of these people. Right. And take it back to what you learn in medical school, your age, they always tell you your history tells you your diagnosis, right?
00:21:07
Speaker
Your history tells you everything. And I really think that the only way to move forward with this pandemic is to know the story of the lives of those that are lost, especially within the Black community. We'll know where they got it, how they got it. What's the reason why they didn't go to the hospital sooner? Why didn't they get help? Or did they get help? And they were turned away, right? We're not going to be able to answer these key questions for us to move forward and be better as a medical profession unless we ask these tough questions.
00:21:37
Speaker
out of that, I remember telling the staff at the hospital, um, you know, I need you to realize that that is not just a black man. He's not just a black body. He is, you know, a preacher, my father, um, someone that I care about. And after he passed away, I just remembered my statement and what I said, and my father saying, you know, I don't feel like they care about me. They think I'm, you know, I'm just another black person to them. And that's what made me start the initiative. Wow.
00:22:07
Speaker
Oh, and this is, this is why we're having these types of conversations because I personally want for our listeners, we call them our loungers here, but for our listeners, our loungers and others to understand that systemic racism is real and it's real.
Shifting Focus: Systemic Racism in Healthcare Discussions
00:22:28
Speaker
It's real for our loved ones. It's real for us and.
00:22:32
Speaker
When we get discouraged, get back to the why, right? The why of why, why we are here, why we need to continue, why we need to persevere. Cause this has to change and it's going to change with us. I believe that it will. Right. And we have to call it out. Right. So I'm currently in, um, I'm currently doing a, uh, the Commonwealth Fund.
00:22:55
Speaker
fellowship in minority health policy at Harvard. And one of the conversations we've been having in our classes and within our fellowship is the conversation in healthcare quite often to remain professional, right? Has always been let's identify things by race. Oh, hypertension is higher in this group or class of people, right? And thinking just race. But really what we need to be thinking is racism. Two different things, right? We have to be able to call it out
00:23:25
Speaker
in what it is, right? So you could easily say, if we're gonna use COVID as the example, you know, oh, they have preexisting conditions.
00:23:32
Speaker
That is true, but the other part that's true is racism causes us not to prepare hospitals in urban areas and underserved communities. The hospitals we knew were going to be hit the most. Why? Because a lot of our essential workers are represented by people of color, right? Think about your grocery store parks and your nurses, your CNAs, your housekeeping staff, your truck driver, your transportation worker.
00:24:02
Speaker
Think about the last time you used those services and what the ethnicity was of those people, right? Those are our people. That's our community. Our people. Right? So taking away from the fact that, yes, they may have had pre-existing conditions, but understand why those exist, understand social determinants of health, and understand how racism put us 10 steps back compared to everybody else. So we need to be on the forefront. We need to be represented in leadership.
00:24:31
Speaker
so we can call things what they are, not to make people feel like we're pointing fingers, but really to hold people accountable and to call it what it is so we can actually fix it.
Professional Appearance and Authenticity
00:24:42
Speaker
Absolutely. I hope people are getting encouraged by this interview today, Dr. Sherry, you were giving it to us today. I was trying. You are giving it to us today. So we'll shift a little bit, but still in the same vein.
00:24:58
Speaker
not so much the COVID-19 pandemic, but with regards to our appearance, professional appearance as black medical students or minority medical students. So there is oftentimes the tone about natural hair, can take cloth, whatever have you that makes us black and beautiful and as it being non-professional or non-professional, excuse me. So
00:25:26
Speaker
how can we navigate these dynamics in these hospital settings with, I guess, without fear of being reprimanded, you know, for wearing what we want to wear, for looking how we want to look. And again, to your point earlier about not being the angry Black woman and, you know, considering all that we have to go through with regards to professionalism,
00:25:56
Speaker
Right. Right. Um, so this is always a tough question. I always get this or my getting this, especially around interview season when people are not sure what they should wear. And you know, can I put my hair out a certain way or, or pull it back or should I just wear a wig or weave or whatever? Um, so this is on one end for those in leadership, this, this needs to be understood how uncomfortable this is for us.
00:26:23
Speaker
because a lot of times our white counterparts unfortunately don't have to think about this, but we do, right? And you're worried about how this can be conceived and perceived. And that's on one side. So I think one way for this to be even addressed or really just looked at is there needs to be training for program directors, assistant program directors, clerkship directors, those in the leadership to really understand and have some bias training on how their own biases
00:26:52
Speaker
make them count people out of the race if they see a picture with that on their application or if they see that in an interview. Because that's real, right? That just needs to be talked about more. And I do believe personally that all those who are going to be interviewing, who are part of that process, who are part of the
00:27:12
Speaker
evaluation process should undergo bias training on a frequent basis to make sure that they're not allowing their own stereotypes and biases to play a part in how they evaluate, match or predict certain parameters. So that's just my own personal opinion about that. In regards to students, I think two things need to happen.
00:27:33
Speaker
One, we don't encourage enough personal growth on this professional journey. And I'm so big about this. My mentees will tell you, you come to see me and you're asking me all these type of questions. I say, let's step back. Do you know who you are first? Because quite often, a lot of times we've been saying that we wanted to be a doctor since we were very little. We have spent very little time on working on ourselves.
00:27:55
Speaker
what it means to be us, whether it's a black man or a black woman. The only way you can represent yourself authentically and feel comfortable doing that, whether it's wearing your hair natural or wearing specific attire to work, is if you feel comfortable in why you're doing it, right? Because sometimes a lot of it is your own imposter syndrome or consciousness, right? That's presenting. So I always tell people, do the work.
00:28:22
Speaker
just as much as you're invested in having your grades and your board scores, do the work on yourself because this journey is long and it pulls a lot out of you, right? And you're questioning yourself, you're doubting yourself. So unless you're secure in who you are and what you represent, you start to nitpick the things on the outside when really you're nitpicking what's on the inside. So I quite often tell people like do the work or find mentors that you feel represent
00:28:51
Speaker
having a good sense of self, asking them what books they read to really help them understand themselves better. I'm a proponent of therapy and mental health. Yes, ma'am. I tell a lot of my mentees, sometimes when we're going through things, they'll tell me something that happened on a rotation or in a class or a classmate.
00:29:10
Speaker
All right, that could have been off, but I'm seeing a pattern here. And let's talk more about your childhood. Let's talk more about some things that you've gone through because you come in with that baggage, right? You do. You absolutely do. Right. So you have to identify that. So I encourage them to seek therapy, to listen to certain podcasts, do some reflection, do things for them so they can also figure out who they are. And once you do that, you become more secure with the decisions you make and how you dress and how you look.
00:29:40
Speaker
Again, I think you can remember how you want to be, I hate to say this, but remember how you want to be perceived. The way you look is a representation of yourself. If I'm wearing my natural hair, to me, the way that I have conveyed that is I'm comfortable in my own skin. I'm comfortable
00:30:03
Speaker
with how I, how I come about what this does for me. And quite frankly, when people have asked me about my hair, I said, it's my way of connecting to my community. It's my path of programming to my patients.
00:30:13
Speaker
They see it and they automatically say, OK, she may be one of us. Right? Right. Exactly. I can only imagine you've gone to conferences or rooms and you're already counting who's in the room. Who's in the room? Looks like me. Hey, girl. Hey. That silent nod, right? Not the silent nod. Yes, exactly. So looking up or certain comments happen, y'all look at each other and you almost like these smiling tweets. You just know. You just know. My people, I found my tribe.
00:30:42
Speaker
And the comfort you find in that. So that's what I think the hair and the clothing is. It's your ability to find the comfort and without saying words, identify who's on your side. And what you guys don't know is quite often that's what generates certain patients and populations to you because they feel like someone who's going to see them and hears them and makes space for them. And that's the best way to start a doctor-patient relationship.
00:31:06
Speaker
I love it. I love it. I am, I am just inspired to like keep pushing on today. Cause this has been a rough year for so many reasons. And you know, to have to deal with these issues in professionalism on top of everything else, like being black in America is hard, Dr. Sherry. It's a daily protest.
00:31:28
Speaker
It really is, and we just have to keep in mind, and the focus and remember the why that's what I kind of want to leave leave us with today just remembering the why remembering what
Empowering Minority Voices for Change
00:31:39
Speaker
we got into and why we got into this.
00:31:42
Speaker
And we have amazing people like you, Dr. Sherry, who can kind of lead us to the light when we're away from it. Cause that's where I was today. And this interview has inspired me and I hope it has done the same for our listeners. Thank you so much for being with us. And we really do appreciate you here at the lounge.
00:32:05
Speaker
if there is a social media address that you would like to provide for our listeners to follow you for any, any more inspiration that you can give. Yeah, absolutely. So before I give my social media, I think one thing we talked about a lot, I think, um, I always want to leave people with encouragement and please, please, one of the things that I am constantly telling my mentees or students that I come across
00:32:31
Speaker
especially Black students is we need you, we need you guys. I mean, more than ever, I need more of us who are not only on this side and are Black or represent us, but I need you guys to be authentically yourselves. I need you guys to be authentic and recognize your voice and your power to lead because as much as we're seeing a lot more in medical school, guess what? Look at your leadership.
00:32:59
Speaker
I guarantee you're not seeing that many of us in leadership, right? So the next phase of not only getting a lot of us in med school and in residency and matching is also to shake up leadership. We need a lot more of us in those rooms when decisions are being made to say, no, no, no, you're not getting the data correct. There is something you're not knowing about this community that I can relate to. So I say authentically because I don't need you to just be another black body in a white coat.
00:33:28
Speaker
I need you to be there and understand your power and not only be professional and be competent and be excellent, not because it's going to prove how smart you are, but because if you're going to be the best doctor, you want to be excellent in what you do. But I also need you to bring perspective, to shed light, to bring a voice so we can change this narrative. So being a physician and being yourself
00:33:51
Speaker
isn't just about being a doctor, it's about being more. You have such power to lead and lead change with being a person who's respected and has such credentials behind your name. So to everyone who's studying, who's prepping for boards, who's getting ready for, I think the ERAS or something opens up soon.
00:34:10
Speaker
So, and you're getting nervous. I think if you can stay motivated and understanding that we need more of us, more of us representing, more of us speaking up, hopefully that pushes everybody to another day and another hurdle in the journey, because it's a long fight, but it's much needed for our community to be better. Let the church say amen. Hilarious.
00:34:36
Speaker
You don't understand. You don't understand. This is so needed for us for now, this season. Like this was the inspiration that is going to get us all together in these last months of 2020. Yeah, this is the perfect time to be in training. It's the perfect time to, as much as this year has been so hurtful and hard. I mean, I'm speaking from experience and I'm, and it's a day by day process for me, even with my losses, as much as it's been hard,
00:35:06
Speaker
this is a platform for change, right? It is, it is. We need to be able to sustain this beyond the hashtag, right? Because soon enough, people are going to forget, especially as we get through this pandemic, people are going to quickly forget the lives that are lost, the things we've experienced. But the more of us that get to the other side, that remember that racism continues to persist, that we need to speak up, that we need to call things out, the more we become the proponents for change. So I hope everyone stays motivated
00:35:36
Speaker
seek out guidance, believe that you are worth going through all of this. There's a reason for it and that you will be a part of something greater than yourself. So you can find me on Instagram. That's probably where I am the most. Dr. Magdala Sherry. I'm also doing my Not Just a Black Body campaign, which I'm going to be regrouping and starting a few projects soon. And that's at Not Just a Black Body.
00:36:04
Speaker
on Instagram and those same titles as well on Twitter. So follow me, ask me questions, see some of my posts, and I'd love interacting with everybody.
00:36:14
Speaker
Wow. Thank you so much, Dr. Sherry, for such an amazing, amazing time well spent on a Sunday. This was great. No problem. I enjoy speaking with you guys and keeping you guys motivated and just keep pushing. I know it's hard and it takes forever, but it goes by quickly. I promise. We will keep pushing and we will remember our why in doing so. Absolutely. That's a message for the week. Remember the why.
00:36:40
Speaker
Thank you guys for tuning into today's VIP episode of The Lounge. Stay tuned for our next episode. Homecoming season. We bringing the heat next month, y'all. Also, be sure to follow SNMA underscore official on Instagram and any other social media platforms. Take care, guys.
00:37:21
Speaker
Bye!