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A Season of Thanks
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There’s so much to be thankful for on this episode of Run The List!
Join our RTL hosts as they cover topics ranging from a historic monetary gift given to a world renowned HBCU, the controversy of 24 hours shifts in residency, ways to give back this Thanksgiving holiday, and more!
SNMA Presents: The Lounge Podcast wishes you and your loved ones a wonderful Thanksgiving!
To share your thoughts on our discussions or if you have any questions to ask our hosts, email podcast@snma.org for a chance to be featured on the show
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed on our podcast do not reflect the official stance of the Student National Medical Association.
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Transcript
AMEC 2026 Conference Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
The views expressed on this podcast represent only those of the hosts and do not represent the views of the Student National Medical Association. AMEC 2026 will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from April 1st to 5th, 2026.
00:00:16
Speaker
This year, the conference is entitled Bridging Generations with Hope. illuminating the voices and visions of the future of medicine. AMEC 2026 will bring together over 3,000 pre-medical students, physicians, alumni, and healthcare care professionals from across the country for a vibrant and empowering experience.
00:00:37
Speaker
Join us this year in Pittsburgh as we build bridges that inspire hope, strengthen bonds, and empower the bold visionaries who will transform healthcare for generations to come.
00:00:49
Speaker
To register, please click on that link in the description box below. Now you know what time it is.
Thanksgiving Reflections
00:00:56
Speaker
Let's start the show.
00:01:15
Speaker
Welcome to SNMA Presents The Lounge. Whether you're in the student lounge, doctor's lounge, or 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 health care.
00:01:31
Speaker
Guys, it's officially the season of giving thanks. Despite another crazy year, I'm sure everyone here on the pod has something to be thankful for this year. What's one thing you are all grateful for? I'll start.
00:01:44
Speaker
today's my mom's birthday so i'm grateful for her e mama mama oh i know right yeah i'm grateful for her um and you know just her celebrating another year of life um i think it's super important for me and my family just you know given everything we've been through the last couple years so i'm always grateful for her what about y'all I'm grateful for life itself to be able to get up, breathe, be inspired to inspire others to impact my community.
00:02:15
Speaker
I'm grateful for being in a place where I'm love, cherish, whether it's my residency program, it's the community that's behind my back supporting me. Like I'm just grateful to be grateful.
00:02:26
Speaker
Because oftentimes, you know, we see a lot of our patients are in very destitute positions. And so it's so empowering be a physician, no matter the hours, no matter how much you want to complain. But we truly live in our dreams.
00:02:43
Speaker
That's true. That's really awesome. And happy birthday to your mom, Samisa. Thank you. see grateful for Aldwyn and yeah, I'm just grateful for our family, for my family.
00:02:54
Speaker
And I think this is just a time to give thanks. It sounds like, especially just transitioning to the month of November. i think it's just that time where we just sit in gratitude.
00:03:07
Speaker
We love it. Yes, indeed. Well, for all our preclinical students running the patient list on the wards, allow the team to address pressing matters of the day. in this segment of the show now, we will run the list.
00:03:23
Speaker
We'll be discussing some of the recent events in medicine and beyond affecting our communities and the populations that we serve. All right. Well, on that, ah I guess just talking about Thanksgiving general and just giving thanks.
00:03:36
Speaker
um I mean, for most of us, I think the idea of celebrating Thanksgiving is something that we look forward to, but that's not necessarily the case for everyone because of its history, um which is a little bit controversial.
00:03:50
Speaker
So we'll just talk a little bit more about that. According to the New York Times, the Mayflower did in fact bring settlers, as we know from England, who were looking to have religious freedom. And they ended up settling in what is now known as Pymout, Massachusetts.
00:04:07
Speaker
So 1621, they held this feast, which um interestingly enough wasn't about coming together and um eating, but they did refer to it as Thanksgiving to just celebrate just being on a new on a new land, which of course came with displacing ah the locals of the natives that they encountered when they got here.
00:04:31
Speaker
So as I prefaced earlier, Thanksgiving itself is a bit complex. um Nevertheless, um I would i like guess I'm curious to know what it means to you all now, especially in the context of the history. um I think I'll start with myself for me. I feel like here, especially in America with all of our busy lives, it almost seems like the one opportunity that I have with my family and also my friends. as I always also look forward to Friendsgiving. It's just really that opportunity to sit down and really reflect on how the year has gone and, um and to just give thanks. So curious to know um if, you know, some of y'all don't celebrate it if you do what your, what your takes are in general about Thanksgiving.
00:05:19
Speaker
um I'll go next. ah Yeah, honestly, Thanksgiving slash Indigenous Peoples Day. um I think now it definitely represents, for me at least, less about like the American historical tradition that we kind of learn about, and more so this is a time that I can have with my family and we eat food like...
00:05:41
Speaker
i don't even know, like, turkey is, like, literally the least of our worries. Like, it's, like, jollof and maybe the turkey's there or not. But it's really just about being with family and, like, taking stock of the year, like you said.
00:05:54
Speaker
um But, yeah, I think also because of, like, you know, I joined – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated when I was in college. um So there was also times where like between that day and like Martin Luther King's Day, those were days of service. so I think it's also just a little bit of that too.
Political Discussions: SNAP Benefits & Elections
00:06:13
Speaker
Like you if you can, it's a time to give back um and just be grateful for like what you have and, you know, try to help others that are less fortunate.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah. As was mentioned, I do feel like this day, um You know, when we we think about the injustices across America and how there's still a lot of systemic issues that plague many communities, Thanksgiving and the celebration of it and its dark historical past is oftentimes neglected in our history. and his history is written by the victors.
00:06:50
Speaker
and true historians know that on the same land that we are, made many Native Indians sacrificed their life to maintain the honor and tradition and rituals that the ah European culture came and decimated.
00:07:07
Speaker
And so each and every day, I think about it from the perspective of, yes, I'm grateful, but also celebrating honoring those warriors and those people who are long lost and forgotten.
00:07:19
Speaker
and need to be cherished and remembered. And I think about my time as a child when I was learning about a history that was untrue. And now it gives me a second chance at clarity to hopefully help Native communities heal. Like my homie here, one of my homies, one of my residents, he does a lot of work with Native populations, especially in like New Mexico and Wyoming. And so I'm trying to work with him on a project as it pertains to mental health
00:07:50
Speaker
disparities and I hope to do more that work. But also I think this topic brings to mind the thankfulness that we need to have because what we are seeing with the Democratic Party pulling up on on the national stage, on the federal stage, on the on the state stage has been incredible.
00:08:11
Speaker
There's been a variety of minorities and women have one. Number one, you know, my dog in New York City, you know, Zohan Mandani, who was born in Uganda and is of Indian descent.
00:08:26
Speaker
He's the first Muslim to hold the position as mayor. Interestingly enough, um there is ah a soundtrack that he produced for his mother. He's also a rapper, too.
00:08:37
Speaker
seen one of his rap videos. He got beef with 57 because you know 50 he's trying to keep all his bread and mom donnie's goals is in some people's opinions quite socialistic he wants to provide free child care for children up to the year ah ages of two years old for new yorkers he wants to make the bus free he wants to stabilize the rent which are all great things um And we see a new study showing that 87% of America's wealth is owned by 15% of the American population. So I think what he's doing is great.
00:09:13
Speaker
We got Sharon Owens, who was the first black mayor of Syracuse. Dr. Dorsey Aprez, who is the first black female mayor of Albany. you know, New York's holding it now. We already got three cities with our first first.
00:09:26
Speaker
We also got ah Michelle Wu of Boston, the first woman and person ah person of color to be elected to the position. Mike Sherrill and Abigail Spanberg are the first female governors of New Jersey and Virginia.
00:09:39
Speaker
And then Brandon Scott, who is already the mayor of Boston and was elected at age 36 and now will be reelected. And it's been interesting under his tenure, the city has seen the 18% decrease in vacant properties and its lowest crime rates in 50 years. Although i don't rock with Boston, I'm a rock with him a little bit more because Brandon Scott is on the stage. know That's a New Yorker. But with that being said, what do y'all think about ah the landscape of the democratic Democratic Party and just in general landscape of politics um as we see these significant changes in representation?
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, i i can go first. I think, you know, we always, like, focus on the presidential election and like, larger elections. But I think having these local government, like, wins um in, you know, in these states and in these cities, I think it shows a lot of positive change in that people are just taking control and and in doing their civic duty, quote unquote.
00:10:48
Speaker
Like, I think they said for Mamdani's, like, election that was, like, the most New Yorkers have gone out and, like, voted for a mayor in, like, I don't even know how long. So I think, you know, sometimes it's very easy to forget that elections, presidential included, they kind of all start at the local level, like, depending on who's... Controlling things like your bus system and your school system that impacts who's going to do things at a county level, at a state level, and eventually at a national level. So, you know, i think hearing this tide like in the middle of a presidential term, I think it probably speaks to
00:11:26
Speaker
what might happen at the end of the term. um Because if there's tides that are chained in the middle of it, that's sort of, you know, how the next turn of elections goes. So I think it'll be interesting to watch. And I think it's, you know, really cool that people are getting more involved in their local politics, for sure. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think we we definitely should, um we should definitely keep up our civic duties and be involved especially on a local level because those are the changes that reflect on a day-to-day you know just beyond voting in the presidential election but think for me in particular i was really excited to see the new york the result the new york merit mayoral candidate election because i mean do have a very good and close friend who lives in new york and for for some of the issues that you already mentioned aldwin just housing something that
00:12:18
Speaker
I think it's something to be excited about. um You know, just the prospect of really living in a place that you've called home and not wanting to move out because of um inability to afford the cost of living. I know that's something I've spoken to her about like throughout the years. um And thankfully enough, I mean, she stayed there. So, I mean, I'm looking forward to that even being a case where people in New York just don't feel like they need to abandon your home and go somewhere else just because it's too expensive. So I think a lot of the issues that he's prioritizing <unk> We'll make for just a better New York in general.
00:12:52
Speaker
um so So, yeah, I mean, is it is it time to switch to politics then? It seems like perhaps there's room there's room for us in leadership um as opposed to, you know.
00:13:03
Speaker
But um anyway.
STEM Program Challenges Post-Shutdown
00:13:07
Speaker
you know No, but I mean, i think it's I think it's really cool. Like just the diversity that we're seeing, like across um all of the different races that you talked about. I mean, and it's not just diversity and in one way. It's not diversity in ethnicity or race. It's like religious diversity. um i don't I don't know if any of these people were on you know the LGBTQIA spectrum, but just, I think these people that are holding these office reflect the people that they're going to help. And I think when you have that, that just breeds for better leadership, right? Because you kind of know what people like you would want.
00:13:48
Speaker
um But yeah, no, I think it's super cool. Apparently his mom like made king of Katwe, which is just crazy. don't know. It's really interesting. And that he produced the soundtrack for it like you said, that's mad cool.
00:14:01
Speaker
um I don't know if anybody, of you any of you have watched that movie. I feel like I have, because for some reason I'm having a reaction to it. So I must have, I must have seen something. um But yeah, that's cool.
00:14:11
Speaker
And yeah, he's just young. He's like super like tapped into the community. And I think, you know As we be become the adults, right like we want to make sure that our views are are really um you know reflected in the people that are elected to serve us. And yeah, I don't know I know y'all had a crazy mayor before, Eric Adams. you know He was also diverse. However, he used to just be doing stuff. So well well I'm happy for Madam Donnie, and hopefully he will live up to everybody's aspirations. So that's what I hope for.
00:14:48
Speaker
um But, you know, speaking of aspirations, speaking of staying involved and, you know, trying to ah mold the next generation, November 8th was National STEM Day.
00:15:01
Speaker
um And, you know, that was just SitGo STEM had an innovation academies and they average about 30,000 students and educators annually.
00:15:11
Speaker
And they actually have a scholarship program that provides $2,000 to 25 students. different high school students and 21 different college students. um There's also other programs like Generation Beyond, that's an aeronautics program from Lockheed Martin and Discovery Education. And they also offer comprehensive free curriculum to teachers.
00:15:32
Speaker
Lastly, Amazon Fulfillment Centers offer 45-minute virtual field trips to grades 6 through 12 that allow them to explore the engineering used at the fulfillment centers. I mean, clearly all of us like STEM in some sort of way. We're all in the medical field. So whether or not you're the S, T, E, or the M, um how do you guys... um How are programs that were, how do you think programs could have been negatively impacted by the shutdown? I mean, these, can see, these are all initiatives that are super helpful, right? In terms of making sure that kids are exposed to science and, you know, just are able to live out their dreams in the way that they want to and giving them assistance to do so. But do you think that any programs were negatively impacted by the shutdown? And now that the shutdown is basically kind of ended,
00:16:22
Speaker
do you think some of these benefits will be reinstated? Honestly, that one's a tough one because, you know, I feel like when you have situations like this, it's one thing to just be optimistic and hope that everything just goes back to normal. But in reality, that's not always the case. Some of these workers may or may not have, um you know, explored or ventured out to other opportunities. So if if i I just like as one of those things where there was know previously perhaps like a position for two and then there was a break and then perhaps in reevaluating way down the line administration realized, oh, well, we actually don't really need this type of thing. so I think I just feel like go'll just be there'll be a need for a strong advocacy to continue this on one end. And then just in terms of the workers who are who are
00:17:14
Speaker
working to run these programs, I mean, who's to say that they were all just sitting tight and waiting for the shutdown to be over, right? They have lives. And I mean, we we've already seen how financially tough the situation has been for some people needing to find other ways to feed your families and stuff like that.
00:17:30
Speaker
So i just feel like it's it's questionable if these programs will bounce back um or run as they they once did. And I mean, and the hope is that they do.
00:17:44
Speaker
Yeah, I feel the same sentiment when I want to ah think about the state of affairs with our scientific progress. in America has been lackluster for a lot of our children.
00:17:57
Speaker
They're not taught the important principles and concepts of science so that they could be innovators and creators. They're taught to reduce their creativity and creativity.
00:18:12
Speaker
a lot of ah lot of their inquiry into what life is and understanding the principles of life. And so i feel, although it's been two months, like Chinas mentioned, it's hard to ascertain like how much of an impact two months have been on, because who's to say might be a child that that was part of that program that
Resident Work Hours & Health Impact
00:18:34
Speaker
could cure cancer. You know i'm saying? You don't know.
00:18:36
Speaker
what the trajectory is. And now that those two months have you know impacted them, maybe they no longer have interest because they've been out for two months. Who knows you know what that looks like? But what the grand scheme of things is hopefully that we can continue to have funding for these programs, especially for children in marginalized, underserved communities.
00:18:59
Speaker
so that they see that there's something more to life than basketball or rapping or music. they they They'll see that there are productive careers out there that they can flourish and thrive in and create a sustaining impact that'll live beyond them. So, um yeah, I'm hoping that now that things have returned or hopefully will return, that we have even more programs, not just be at where we're at, but more programs in every city,
00:19:29
Speaker
in every domicile across America.
00:19:37
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, thinking about that, I mean, i feel like these programs are very instrumental to to nurture the future, right? Nurture those who are going to go into these SDEM careers, like you mentioned, Samisa. But interestingly enough, for those of us who are already there, um including dr Iberi Sanoki, who is um ah who's a scientist and also a resident physician at Stanford, it's just interesting that sort of like
00:20:08
Speaker
the the conversation that she has, I guess she's starting around the 24 hour shifts that um some residents- You better be careful. Oh.
00:20:20
Speaker
Big storm coming. No, support her. I'm just saying, sorry to interrupt, but you know, when you post on a post-up, you become a target. But I'm trying to tell Yeah, that's true. That's true. and the thing is, I mean, I don't even know that she really said very much anyway. it was just so just so interesting that she's just really documenting her own experience, like her own lived experience, going through a 24-hour shift as ah as a resident physician and just showing us like how exhausting that could be from her own lived experience and her her own perspective.
00:20:56
Speaker
So in 2011, ACGME mandated that these shifts that these shifts for interns who are who are first year residents should be limited to 16 hours only.
00:21:07
Speaker
um And second year residents, however, were permitted to continue clinical care for up to 24 hours. Now, there are there is robust data out there against these 24 hour shifts um for a lot of obvious reasons, including you know, the cognitive impairment of performance that could just happen when someone has to be up or alert and responsible, really responsible for patient care.
00:21:35
Speaker
for all of those hours, ah not to mention the way in which it disrupts sleep um and and also the consequences of sleep irregularity and and deprivation and how that those are also linked to cardiovascular diseases for these health professionals and healthcare care workers.
00:21:53
Speaker
And I mean, most importantly, there are a lot of studies just showing that um increased or these type of strenuous shifts can also impair patient outcomes because, you know, obviously healthcare workers who attend to these patients are just not rested and the best of positions to care to care for them.
00:22:18
Speaker
So now, I mean, you know, I think residency itself is is a big, big thing that I guess like a big ritual that is part of getting to become an attending physician and you both are in it. um What are your thoughts around these 24 hour shifts? Are they really necessary to become that doctor that you aspire to be? You know, the doctor that um impacts the community and everything? Like, would you become any less of one if you did for some example, say the hour or less?
00:22:52
Speaker
um We just had more bodies just taking you know taking turns, exploiting those ships.
00:23:00
Speaker
i There's so many things I want to speak on on this, but you know. You gotta be there. Is there like a special sauce you get when you're there?
00:23:12
Speaker
and I don't agree. Like, honestly, like I'll give you ah a prime example. People understand, like when you mentioned the cognitive impairment part, there's been multiple situations where people have been have done 24 hour shifts and unfortunately lost their life after driving. Right. Because they're delirious, they're tired, they're fatigued.
00:23:30
Speaker
They end up not, you know, because you need to have that mentally sound mind. And people oftentimes say, oh, yeah, 24 hours. I did it back in my day. But just because you did it back in your day doesn't mean or necessitate that it should be normalized.
00:23:44
Speaker
You shouldn't normalize trauma on people. Our bodies need to have sleep. Our bodies need to rest. Our bodies, from an evolutionary perspective, most of the time did not have to be up for 24 hours. So to expect that someone can perform for 24 hours at a time at a high level and have a standard of such is just ridiculous, especially with the insight understanding that we have with medicine, knowing that sleep deprivation can increase your risk for stroke or heart attack or kidney disease and chronic depression.
00:24:16
Speaker
ah chronic conditions when you have that being done to you over long term. Also, there's studies that show that people who are in residency lose their lifespan by five to six years due to these kind of contributions on top of the sometimes depending on the program, malignancy,
00:24:34
Speaker
and things of that nature, lack of support, mentorship. So for me, these 24 hours are very unnecessary. At my program, we do home calls. So like um basically, that means that you work from like your standard hours and then overnight, like if you get any pages or anything like that, they call you and hit you up and then you address the situation.
00:24:54
Speaker
But there's unfortunately certain fields like surgery. If you have a trauma, someone has a blunt wound that you got to go and inspect. You can't do that over the phone.
00:25:05
Speaker
So in those scenarios, I think these hospitals are working on a paradigm. They're justifying capitalism, essentially, because they could hire another surgeon or PA, but they could hire other people to fulfill that role overnight if they really wanted to, to protect their residents.
00:25:20
Speaker
but they choose not to. They choose to pay the CEOs three, $4 million dollars that don't know ish about clinical care. They choose to pay these administrators mad bread.
00:25:32
Speaker
But then when someone dies from doing it, you know, like after a 24 hour shift, everybody's silent. Everybody don't say nothing. Everybody's turning their head, blaming the resident instead of blaming the systems that are creating havoc and and and And wreaking devastation on people's lives. You know i'm saying?
00:25:51
Speaker
And I'm saying that to say, and I know several examples of this. Even recently, there was someone that I encountered who was in a surgical field who needed to take a mental health break because he was on trauma on Q3, 28-hour call. you that that's not That's ridiculous.
00:26:06
Speaker
How do you expect somebody to even wash their butt on on that such a regimen? Like, no, for real life, it's crazy, bro. Like, we go on by, i want to just lay that down and going to let y'all talk about it. It's frustrating, but I'm going to y'all. yeah.
00:26:26
Speaker
You don't know where to stop. You still live. Can you explain quickly what these Q3 things mean? Oh, I got you, baby. So Q3, like, think about it. Like, you ever heard of, like, Q8? Like, when you're talking about medicine, like, it's every eight hours. So if you have a Q whatever call, could be Q2, that means every other day you're on call or every other or every three days you're on call. So you would be the person that you would come in in the morning, you're there overnight, you're there.
00:26:56
Speaker
And then in the morning in time, you got around. And then maybe at some point earlier on earlier on in the day, then you would usually leave. You can leave. That's a traditional 24, a.k.a. 28-hour call.
00:27:09
Speaker
Because the 28 is including the parts where you have to write notes and, you know, actually do things for the patients that you saw overnight and tell the new team, hey, this is what you guys should do for the daytime. So now...
00:27:21
Speaker
I think I'm coming at it from very different perspective because of the surgical aspect.
00:27:29
Speaker
I would think as a patient, I would want to be able to access a doctor at all times. Now that could be the abuse topic because we're just, we're also general surgeons. We we just, you know,
00:27:42
Speaker
We want to be there. want to help, right? So when I put into that perspective, I'm like, well, somebody has to semi be around or available for a patient at all times.
00:27:54
Speaker
So then when I think about like, if that's my baseline, then we're going between whether or not you want me there for 24 hours and I'm there around in the hospital.
00:28:09
Speaker
and then maybe I get off and maybe I get some sleep or home call, which is, yeah, technically you could be off, but you could also be called in and you can be called in to do a surgery. And then you, because you're home call, because you went home, you can, you still have to come in the next day.
00:28:30
Speaker
When you put it into the perspective of like that for me, I, and this is controversial, I would prefer the 24 because... oh bless you.
00:28:41
Speaker
God bless you but do you. But do you get the difference? If you have home call and you're on a non-busy service or you're more than likely not going get called in later on that day, it makes sense to have home call. It really does.
00:28:55
Speaker
And home call hasn't always been bad for me. However, like if you have a service where you're doing a lot of work And your home call, it's not, you're just home working and you might have to go back in and then you still have to come back in the next day like nothing happened. right So it's different. I think it really honestly is service dependent is what I would say in terms of how I feel about the 24 hour shift Now,
00:29:25
Speaker
if we get into the debate of whether or not like you need to have, like, like he said, ancillary services or advanced practice providers sort of help with the night, or you want to make everything night float, that's different.
00:29:38
Speaker
That's a, that's a completely different discussion. But to me, if you put it between 24 hour, 28 hour call or home call, and you make it a busy service, i think a
SNAP Benefits & Racial Perceptions
00:29:48
Speaker
24 hour it is better. You might get the day off the next day, but again, Hey, different perspective.
00:29:59
Speaker
these appies can't wait i mean you know you're not gonna die that day ah and i think i mean not i respect that samisa i definitely do but for me coming from the psychiatry perspective and looking at um
00:30:18
Speaker
The moral injury and burnout that occurs that ah physicians sustain, i don't think is worth it to have a 24-hour call. I think it's very unreasonable.
00:30:29
Speaker
And again... You've mentioned some of the data and how robust it is. There has to be things put into place to kind of counteract, in my opinion, people having to do 24 hour call.
00:30:43
Speaker
ah Yeah, you got to get the skills. I think that that is certainly necessary, but there, I think there has to be a way to do that without um endangering people's lives and wish that the ACGME would,
00:30:59
Speaker
would look into that further and and substantiate and solidify this across residency programs. So even with the 80-hour work week, I mean, that in itself, when you tell people, yeah, we, you know, on average over four weeks, you're allowed to work up to 80 hours, which means two weeks you could work 100 hours and then the next two weeks, 60 hours, which averages over 80 hours.
00:31:25
Speaker
Most people don't even work 40-hour you what I mean? And we continue to normalize that at the detriment of people's lives. So it's incredibly disheartening.
00:31:37
Speaker
But again, I'm blessed in my in my and in my residency. ah I mean, we don't do 24-hour call. We do a home call. We don't do um nights in the hospital, per se.
00:31:51
Speaker
So it' it's really been a blessing. And hope that more programs can institute that and really appreciate their residents by doing so.
00:32:05
Speaker
You know, I think it's just one of those things where we say, yes, there's this demand, but I don't know how much how much we're doing to think about it from just ah like different just like solving solving the problem from all aspects, right? Because yes, there's a service or a demand that's needed. and obviously we do wanna care for our patients, but at what cost?
00:32:31
Speaker
and But yeah, you know I mean, y'all are smart people out there. i'll leave you to I'll leave it to you to solve and figure out the the final but of i no solution.
00:32:43
Speaker
Well, speaking of solving in a solution, a solution has been created for the snap crisis. As many know, the federal government has decided to end the government shutdown and people will start or have already ah received their snap.
00:32:58
Speaker
benefits But interestingly enough, what is happening is that we're having a tirade of people making fun of people on SNAP benefits, ah especially um in regards to feeding their children, maintaining their livelihood. I mean, recently, Alabama nurses facing backlash with posting a video mocking SNAP recipients whose benefits are on brink.
00:33:21
Speaker
of getting cut down. And it was originally posted by TikToker who goes is by Sassy TNC. um And in it, the TikToker is dressed as a in nursing scrubs and a cap and makes a fake tearful plea while feigning emotional distress saying, my baby has not eaten in two hours.
00:33:44
Speaker
That is why I'm on my way to my second job tonight, because it is my responsibility to make sure that he eats, not the U.S. taxpayers. I'm responsible for keeping him fed and clothed.
00:33:55
Speaker
And then during the video, she holds up her black dog to reference her pet as her baby. The clip was posted only days after a set of racist AI videos also had shown that black women were complaining about their EBT cards, which has sparked outrage online.
00:34:12
Speaker
And it's very interesting because there's a whole political dynamic and racial perspective to this. And we see ah that oftentimes people think that it's a poor black mother, and poor black man that's on SNAP benefits. But we know based off statistics that the majority of people who receive SNAP are white individuals because they make up the majority of America.
00:34:37
Speaker
But they want to make this a racial war, unfortunately. And so even despite that, it's not always poor individuals. It goes even beyond that. um it's It's quite more complicated for the 40 million people who are receiving SNAP benefits.
00:34:52
Speaker
But with that being said, I wanted to ask you guys, what are your thoughts about what's going on with SNAP and how it's being used as ah ah racialized warfare and political warfare against particularly the black community?
00:35:09
Speaker
I mean, it wasn't surprising to see, honestly, but i mean, that doesn't make it right. i just feel like it's just one of those things that has been portrayed for so long, especially in the media, to where people just have that image of, you know, just minority communities as just being dependent, as being lazy, as not wanting to work, which we obviously know obscures the the the truth. Definitely is true. It's it's quite unfortunate.
00:35:35
Speaker
I mean, very challenging to to navigate. feel like That's why we got to you know put our imprint on this and kind of take a step forward and um protect those who need these services.
00:35:48
Speaker
I'm glad like this, the government shutdown has ended. And that's also impacted a lot of our federal workers and a lot them to return back. We've seen the TSA on that end. People are incoming to work, the flight controllers. And that's that could be a danger where you get on the flight and you don't got enough flight controllers or they burdened out.
00:36:07
Speaker
You know what mean? Because there's not enough of them. Like, is now is people can return back to work and the economy can start moving.
Healthcare Advocacy & Safe Spaces
00:36:16
Speaker
So it's, I'm kind of glad, but it's unfortunate these last two months, and this was the longest holdout, that you have people, and regardless of political lines that are sitting in these seats,
00:36:28
Speaker
And they're getting paid. They need to put a new rule where people in Congress and Senate, they don't get paid when there's a government shut shutdown. Y'all not more important than anybody else. don't care what anybody's like.
00:36:40
Speaker
Y'all not more important than the people that is working at these federal jobs, these contractors. like We all together make a me ah make America work through its economy and create stability.
00:36:53
Speaker
Yeah, well, I mean, on another note, I mean, speaking of nurses, you have a nurse that has been recognized for a very big award for her role in identifying and saving a victim of sexual trafficking? Okay, so the nurse who's um Miss McCoy, Miss Tiara McCoy, was working at Piedmont Hospital um when she encountered a female patient that was accompanied by a man.
00:37:22
Speaker
And essentially she just noticed, especially like nonverbal behavior that indicated that the patient was uncomfortable. um and she actually took some actions based on what she noticed, create a safe space to explore what the patient was going through. And it was later uncovered that the patient was indeed getting, um abused. So she also provided a means of communication to the patient so she could reach out to her family.
00:37:52
Speaker
Um, And it just provided a great example of how as healthcare care workers, you can really be first line responder and an advocate for your patient, especially for those who especially for vulnerable vulnerable populations who find themselves in these situations where they feel trapped or they don't know exactly how to leave your situation and turn it around.
00:38:13
Speaker
um So i was i was really happy to read that she was getting that kind of um acknowledgement and and was awarded the President's Award for nursing at her hospital.
00:38:26
Speaker
So, um i mean, in talking about this, what are some of the, I guess, what are some other cues that we could be mindful of as as part of the healthcare care team, whether its a student or as a resident, things that we could look out for that could be indicative of someone in these established situations?
00:38:45
Speaker
I think first you got to be welcome. Like you got to create an open space to allow your patients to communicate with you, make them feel comfortable. um I think it's very important for us to have these conversations initially as well with our patients, no matter what domain of of of medicine we're in, when we initially introduce ourselves, if there is any inclination, uh, trying to address it. And if not, not, you know, not forcing the issue, but letting, letting individuals feel you again, comfortable enough to talk to you.
00:39:20
Speaker
And also, um, doing education, pamphlets, having social work on board in general, not necessarily making it just in situations where you have an inclination, but when women and men are discharged, like, hey, here's a resource for domestic violence or um you if you have concerns about human trafficking, here's the number that you can reach out to.
HBCUs: Donations & Systemic Challenges
00:39:46
Speaker
So I think In that regard, that that's incredibly important for us to look at it from different perspectives, see from the perspective of a patient, know that you as a physician have the opportunity to change multiple aspects of your patient's lives. Like, for instance, for me in psychiatry, I i don't see the person...
00:40:06
Speaker
as just a collection of mental health symptoms. I see them as a ah human being, someone that feels, breathes, and thinks. And anything that can help me enforce positivity, that can make them safe, that could encourage them, is something that I need to share and and support them with.
00:40:27
Speaker
So that's kind of how I see it. I think you really outlined some important points. I i feel like we we should also just bear in mind that these these folks are at a higher risk, especially for sexually transmitted diseases. um So that's something that within our power, like we could offer them, like for example, SCD screenings, things of that nature.
00:40:50
Speaker
Yeah, and we are... um We are reporters in a way, mandated reporters in certain situations, especially for children and are elderly. So that's something to also that we that we can have in our back pockets to alert um i learned the the authorities if we suspect, for example, you know elder neglect, or child abuse. So I think in general, like we should definitely make sure that we are in high alert. And um if we notice any suspicious activities that we should follow through, because in so doing, we could be really saving someone's life.
00:41:27
Speaker
And speaking of awareness, we got to give a shout out to Mackenzie Scott, who um is given ah historic $80 million dollar unrestricted gift to Spelman and other HBCUs.
00:41:44
Speaker
She's a former wife of Jeff Bezos. And if you guys are not aware, when she divorced Jeff Bezos, she became one of the richest women in the world. think she inherited like $8 billion dollars off the rip.
00:41:57
Speaker
So for you women are looking at sugar daddies, but she is quite the ideal ah candidate to ah receive inspiration from.
00:42:07
Speaker
Wait, can I be a candidate? Sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. Hey, do your thing, sis. Do your thing. But um this brings her total donation to $132 million. dollars Of the $80 million dollars she's currently that she recently gave, $63 million is going to be given to the university. And $17 million will be given to the College of Medicine, which is an incredible donation.
00:42:34
Speaker
And as we saw as well, Meharry also received a donation from Bloomberg of, I think it was $145 million dollars last year. Now, the thing that I always think about in situations is where is the money going? Is it truly going to building...
00:42:50
Speaker
these institutions from a multitude of areas, whether it's, ah you know, medical student enrichment, scholarship, mentorship, and being at Meharry last year, I can't necessarily say that the money is being utilized in in the in a supportive way. This is, again, my own opinion.
00:43:16
Speaker
But I would like to see that this money is used to really catapult a lot of black medical students and black people in general. We know that ah black men are at a historic low of entering into college.
00:43:32
Speaker
We know that a lot of our ah HBCUs are in broadband deserts, which means that they don't have quality access to internet and educational resources.
00:43:45
Speaker
So I'm hoping that a lot of money is geared toward that so that we can change a narrative about ah black success and black wellness and black accomplishments.
00:43:57
Speaker
But with that being said, um how do you think these HBCUs will use this money to alleviate the shortages of medical doctors in the United States? little tough, but there's a couple ideas I got.
00:44:11
Speaker
That's a great question. Can I have some of that? gosh but but You know, I always just feel so like jealous, not having gone through an HBCU because you do have like black folks who are in all these like other institutions who are ah just struggling, but that's not the purpose the purpose of this conversation. I think it's amazing um that these institutions are getting,
00:44:34
Speaker
these fundings, um especially since historically they were the only avenue for training, especially like black physicians and in the case of ah Morehouse, Meharry and what have you, and so many more of them. So,
00:44:50
Speaker
I think it just always comes down to, would it be a matter of um investing in the administration curriculum itself, or would this be distributed to individuals? That is, whether it's faculty to recruit faculty and retain faculty members who will be a part of um you know for example, the College of Medicine and can provide more instruction to these students or could it be actually dispersed like some of it to to the students themselves who we know have significant financial challenges
00:45:24
Speaker
I'm being a fourth year right now in med school. I just didn't even fathom how expensive it would be, just you know running up my credit cards, trying to pay for everything.
00:45:37
Speaker
Yeah, I can't imagine at these places. Yeah, tell us more about that because think that's a perspective that's not talked about, especially with the cap, with the grad loans and depending on what med school and how much scholarships you have, you may, some people may have to take out private loans. So it's been a significant burden.
00:45:55
Speaker
No, it's a significant, significant burden. I mean, first of all, my cost of attendance for medical school um went up. So it's it was not the same. And originally the grad plus loan didn't cover my entire medical education. So for most of my medical education, I actually worked. So I worked a full-time job the first year and then I transitioned working at the library. But I mean, once you get into your clinical rotation, becomes a little bit more impossible to do those. um And, you know, while, especially like why while prioritizing, doing a while on um everything. And of course, like graduating, getting to the next step, but just my own individual, you know, challenges. I could only imagine if
00:46:37
Speaker
um you know especially people of first a generation or people that don't have family members in medicine. um and i think that the thing is a lot of people are just not privy to how like how the lack of financial support that you have So being in medical school is just one thing, but just gaining support to be there, whether it's for paying for you world or Amboss, all these subscriptions that are running to thousands. Mama. It calls No, it's Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:09
Speaker
Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. i think that's like a very incredible and important piece. um And people oftentimes think,
00:47:20
Speaker
especially in medicine, on even on the medical end, are suffering in silence. But now put a financial burden on many individuals that's not talked about. I'm seeing a lot more GoFundMe post like for support for people's medical education.
00:47:38
Speaker
And we know, I think, that this is a attack on black doctors and the need for more representation in medicine.
00:47:51
Speaker
And I think this is only going to continue to worsen. We're seeing less and less black applicants are getting into medical school. I think I believe last year the year before, um there was 11% decrease in the number of black medical students matriculating, but there was an increase in applicants.
00:48:14
Speaker
So we know politically and systemically what is going on, whether it's you know the destruction of DEI and lack of diversity and faculty and those kinds of things. But now there's ah a financial warfare that is coming upon us.
00:48:29
Speaker
So I think that, um, it's going to be a significant challenge. Do you think that, um, the medical students themselves will get some of this? I think I saw somewhere that I think 17 million of those were for the College of Medicine specifically. Yeah.
00:48:49
Speaker
Do you think that the students themselves will receive any of this a get for administrative costs? It's such a complicated, like, These, man, these HBCUs need help, man. Like, being at Meharry, I'm not too as pervy at Howard, but being at Meharry and seeing some of the things that's, like, you see, yeah, I'm just going expose. I mean, you see there's certain programs that are on probation that don't have program directors.
00:49:20
Speaker
Like there's programs that barely have any faculty and it's like, why? What's going on? Right. There's not even faculty development. There's, you know, some of the residents aren't being um mentored appropriately.
00:49:33
Speaker
And, you know, Meharry is a terrific and wonderful place, but. It's just, what are the systems in place? Like, what is the culture like? You know mean? Where I'm even, even in my position where I'm at is like, we got a 5% raise on our salary. And then you go to our HBCUs, they fighting, like Howard is fighting.
00:49:52
Speaker
Howard has the lowest salary for residents in Washington, DC. And you look at their salary, like it's not even livable. I think it was like 60K or something like that Yeah, and DC is very expensive. Yeah. Yeah. So people, like you mentioned, having to get a second job. Meanwhile...
00:50:09
Speaker
um on top of being in a medical school. But being a resident, you know that's you know ah astronomically challenging. If you're working 68-hour weeks, you got to do Uber, you got you know other activities to kind of catch up and pay your rent.
00:50:25
Speaker
So no one talks about that. So I'm hoping that some of that money can go into increasing salary, but also on the medical school end. It can go into retainment and recruitment of of black applicants, because ah that's another thing that I'm seeing too.
00:50:41
Speaker
There are HBCUs, historically black college and universities. And we've seen a change in the representation in the demographics of our medical school too. And we need more black doctors. We don't need other doctors that everybody else outside of native Americans and Hispanic somewhat are good.
00:51:04
Speaker
And that's another thing that's kind of frustrating too, that have a a challenge with, but um anyway, so. No, i I definitely echo those thoughts. We need more Black doctors. I was just looking for a PCP. And, you know, I guess I'm grateful for what I have, but I really wish I did have a Black physician who I could really relate
Racial Incidents & Community Responses
00:51:26
Speaker
to. But um on on and on I guess, like, will I say current slash...
00:51:34
Speaker
um popular events. um I don't know that this is a lighter topic to discuss, but I think it's definitely an important one um that we talk about.
00:51:46
Speaker
um But essentially we we had we had an occurrence that involved um members of the Love Island cast. um That is Huda Mustafa, who's not related to the actual beauty brand um and Olandria, who who was another member of the cast.
00:52:07
Speaker
um So essentially on on social media, there was a live event that was hosted by Huda um in which in which one of the audience members um commented um and essentially used a racial slur remark to in reference to Alandria, who's a Black member of the Love Island cast. um And interestingly enough,
00:52:32
Speaker
Huda didn't really at the moment address or condemn the slur itself. um Instead, she responded with with laughter.
00:52:43
Speaker
um and And that has become like a subject of discussion since that even though she wasn't necessarily the one, who was using and inappropriate language, um her response wasn't necessarily debunking the use of that language. And Huda Mustafa um had prior like brand partnership with the Make-A-Brand who actually responded in a positive manner and um addressed issue and ended your partnership with Huda Mustafa.
00:53:19
Speaker
um um And Alandria also took to social media to to publicly denounce the use of that term and to also like raise awareness as to not being complicit, um even if you're not the one necessarily. using such terms because it does have a lot of consequences and implications for those that have been marginalized here. So it's not, I mean, it's just not necessarily a matter of the term, but what it actually means to use such a term and and to also be complicit in almost allowing it.
00:53:55
Speaker
um So I guess, you know, with that being said, um what are your What are your thoughts on that? And um I mean, it's also like interesting because I've seen some TikTokers online just describe that you shouldn't necessarily be, you should be forgiven and things of that nature, which I thought was interesting. um But I just wanted to know what you thought about that.
00:54:20
Speaker
ah To be honest, I'm not too familiar with Love Island. um But I will say that anytime that racial slurs are directed towards somebody that you got to get active, you have to call it down immediately.
00:54:36
Speaker
And these are representations of people's lack of awareness, insight and true hatred and vitriol. And we as a community have to protect this young woman from that as black men, as black women.
00:54:54
Speaker
It is of our prerogative to stand firmly against individuals who perpetuate hatred toward our community.
00:55:06
Speaker
And this is not something that's going to completely stop a doubt in the future. But our our job here and our role here is to continue to proclaim the greatness of black women and in black men in our black community and recognizing that this is Unfortunately, part of the systems in which we live in, starting early on, we're not taught to love. We're not taught to process love. We're taught to process hatred.
00:55:36
Speaker
Right. And this comes from people's backgrounds. And it's a representation of, again, of his lack of of thought. And yeah, I mean, when I see these kind of situations, it's it' quite unfortunate. And it brings up triggering situations for me, too.
00:55:56
Speaker
But I was called racial slurs when I was a teen by people in high school and wanted to pop off or even hearing them use racial slurs toward others in a derogatory manner.
00:56:08
Speaker
And it's crazy growing up. Like, I don't i don't get that like that. There's no reason for me to call certain people certain things. You know what mean? like treat and respect people. Even if you don't like them, you don't got to, you know, um antagonize them. You don't got to, you know, make them feel inferiorized.
00:56:27
Speaker
Go about your way. Move about your business. And that's what it is. Yeah, no, agree with you. And I feel like it was definitely a great testament on Huda Beauty's and for actually speaking up speaking up and and on condemning such behaviors because I feel like silence itself is communication. It's communicating. So so just not saying anything doesn't mean you're you're not part of the problems. I feel like we need to definitely be in awareness and things like that so that we can make for just more inclusive communities where um you know people at a very, very bare minimum just feel like they they just feel like
00:57:08
Speaker
They are respected and they have some sort of like pride in your own humanity and they don't feel less than. Yes, silence is violence and silence regarding our mental, our health awareness month.
Prostate Cancer Awareness & Advocacy
00:57:23
Speaker
This month is prostate cancer awareness month. And I think that is important for us to speak about that periodic prostate specific antigen based screening and physical exams are the two most common prostate cancer screenings available for men today, especially for black men. We see black ah um last year.
00:57:43
Speaker
um OJ Simpson died of pre prostate cancer related issues. And also recently, a well known boxer died from prostate cancer.
00:57:55
Speaker
And for black men in specific, we need to understand that it's actually one of the most treatable and also diagnosable cancers and one of the most preventable ones to die from as well.
00:58:07
Speaker
But unfortunately, we don't undertake screening because of medical mistrust, because of fear, Doctors fear of the potentials of complications and misunderstandings of what prostate cancer is.
00:58:23
Speaker
The U.S. s Preventative Service Task Force suggests that men ages 55 to 69 should undergo PSA screening for prostate cancer. But oftentimes, as you know, as in family medicine last year, there's a competing argument about whether or not prostate scanning should occur or not occur because oftentimes people are wrongly diagnosed, are deemed prostate cancer to positive, but then don't have clinical symptoms.
00:58:49
Speaker
So some people are on the side of caution with diagnosis because that could lead to unfortunate surgical intervention and So with that being said, um i think it's important for this month for us to recognize that we have the power, again, no matter what field that we're in, surgery, psychiatry, internal medicine, to advocate for our patients. I recently had a lecture by one of our family medicine psychiatry um um attendings talking about preventative care, colon cancer and pneumovax and all those kind of things.
00:59:24
Speaker
And we do as doctors, yes, you're in your specific field, but you do have a power to educate your patients, no matter where long the spectrum they are at. And we have to take advantage of those moments when we can, when we have our patients, because we're not always with them. But that one time that you tell them, hey, you're 55 years old, you've been smoking for 30 years, you have 30 pack years and need to get a low dose CT scan. Let's make sure.
00:59:50
Speaker
There's no evidence of any ah cancer there, even as a psychiatrist, even as a surgeon. Right. That one time they may not hear somewhere else. You may be the only doctor they're seeing because you're in acute critical situation.
01:00:02
Speaker
That one time, maybe that time, oh, I got to listen, bro. Like, yeah, he right. You don't like let me go get that done. I got to go see my PCV, et cetera, et cetera. But with that being said, what are your thoughts about the disparities surrounding ah black men and specific and prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment?
01:00:21
Speaker
um I can talk about it a little bit. I mean, for me personally, I have like a little bit of a connection to this. I know I'm not a man, but my grandpa actually was diagnosed with prostate cancer and started treatment and basically refused treatment because, you know, old stubborn African man. And eventually, basically, that's what he passed away from. Um, so I think, you know, it's always very interesting to me when, you know, you hear this is one of the most treatable cancers that people can have, but, um, but it's also one of the most deadly when black men tend to have it. I, I think it's all, it's sort of like in breast cancer where like, you know, a lot of black women tend to have like triple negative cancer. It's sort of the same sort of thing that or like skin cancer, like when we get it, even if it is this like preventable slash very treatable cancer, when it happens in this community, it tends to, you know, just be more aggressive. And I think a lot of that, like you said, comes from lack of screening, right? Or just, you know, antiquated thoughts like, oh, black people don't need sunscreen, quote unquote. Yes, we do.
01:01:29
Speaker
But again, that's all besides the point. Again, like I said, for me personally, I'm you know just very attuned to it. I think my you know my dad and my uncle were very much so like, okay, well this happened with our dad. Like we know we need to get checked.
01:01:44
Speaker
Like my dad told this whole story about when he got his first like DRE for, checking for prostate cancer. But I think in general, it's something that needs to be more normalized because I think for a lot of reasons, people are, you know, understandably like scared about how the screening goes just because it is in a very sensitive area, but it is very important. So I'll always advocate for it. um If I see an older man,
01:02:12
Speaker
Obviously, with general surgery, you end up doing a lot of DREs. So it's something that we're always like kind of, you know, still in the area of. So, yeah, if you're older, get all your screening that you need to get.
01:02:24
Speaker
I'm always the vaccine screening advocate for anybody that I see. so Yeah, do it, guys. It's very important. It's especially to the Black men out there and the Black men that have older Black men in their
Podcast Closing & Listener Engagement
01:02:36
Speaker
lives. like Please advise them to go get their screening when it's time and you know see all the people they need to see. Yeah, no, 100%. I feel like it just feeds back to the need for primary care. I mean, we obviously do love that we have specialty care, but i why get there in the first place when we can prevent it? And I feel like doing screenings like these is a great first step. It's a great first step to do And I guess prostate cancer is actually one of the great, I wouldn't even say greater ones, because what's great about cancer, right? But i I would say it's a slow, slower growing um tumor. And I mean, although you do have very malignant and rare types of prostate cancer, for the most part, um it really can be contained, especially if it's ah detected earlier. A lot of men will not, you know,
01:03:25
Speaker
die from the prostate cancer itself if it is actually detected and treated earlier. So it's just better to, you know, better to get screened. And I mean, thankfully, we also have several, several options. I mean, shout out to urology. They're all your cool tools. Micro, micro basic. hairard shirt heavy rubb Yep.
01:03:46
Speaker
Yeah, some tools that you can really do these surgeries even in less than an hour, things like that, if you need to. So I agree, I agree with both of you. um out there, get that PCA, PSA, what am I saying?
01:04:01
Speaker
Go out there and get that PSA. Get PCA for your PSA if needed. Yeah. But yes, very important, y'all. It's okay, I know it's uncomfortable.
01:04:14
Speaker
You do need to do it, though. Okay. And that's our show. Thanks so much for joining us for this episode of The Lounge. Let us know your thoughts about the discussions we had today or ask us a question for a chance to be featured on the show by emailing us at podcast.snma.org.
01:04:32
Speaker
And be sure to follow the SNMA on our social media platform to stay up to date on upcoming events. Bye, y'all.