09/24/2020
These last few months have been full of strife for many of our diversity students, who have had to juggle their medical education with reports of protests demanding justice against against racial inequity both at the level of the law and medicine.
It is during these times it is paramount to highlight the many advances that our students have achieved in light of these struggles.
Two of our ODI M4s have been selected for one of the most prestigious honors in all of medical school - entry into the AOA! Sarah Smith and TJ Calton have shown that persons of color will persevere throughout any challenge presented to them. They serve as beacons for all students of color who aspire to achieve greatness but feel as though the odds are against them. ODI sincerely congratulates Sarah and TJ for their immense hard work over these past 4 years, and have no doubt that they will be champions in working to increase diversity in medicine as practicing physicians!
The excellence in our student body is not limited to M4s. Many of our M2s have been selected to participate as members on the admissions committee. These amazing students will be at the forefront in recruiting additional students of color to the medical field. They are indispensable and invaluable additions to this committee because their input will significantly improve the rates of acceptance of students of color to medical school, and thus bring us one step closer to improving diversity across the field of medicine.
We would also like to bring attention to a select group of students who have been chosen to represent their students of color for their respective classes. They will serve as direct pipelines between medical students of color and faculty in charge of the M1-M4 curriculum. These students are essential in increasing the diversity of the curriculum, such as the recruitment of more diverse faculty and encouraging alterations in course material to better represent how medical conditions often are presented and treated differently in persons of color.
It goes without saying that the increase in diverse voices across UC COM also extends to the freshly minted M1s! Kellsa Mbah, Joy Owens, Hanna Ghefe, Dami Fakunle, and Azante Griffith have started to make their mark at UC, and are featured students on the UC COM Instagram! We would also like to give the spotlight to M1s who have expressed interest in changing health policy on a national level through working with the UC Chapter of the Student National Medical Association. These students include Nkiru Ezeakudo, Giovana Pinheiro, Will Smith, Isabella Toledo, Hanna Ghefe, Samantha De Jesus, Danielle Johnson, Joshua Vegas, Dami Fakunle, Joy Owns, and Alejandra Dumenigo.
At the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, we make our stand in training physicians to close health disparities. We take pride in the fact that from the onset of M1 until the end of M4, our ODI students demonstrate their intention to leave their mark on this university and becoming the leaders of a movement against racial injustice both in the law and in medicine. Go !
