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Tag: Diversity & Inclusion

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In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year, and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, today's blog post honors Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias!

A pediatrician and women and children’s health advocate, Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias deeply believed medical professionals must immerse themselves in the social issues impacting the communities they serve and wove this personal philosophy into her medical and advocacy work. Over the course of her career, she consistently spotlighted issues facing women and children, particularly those that were people of color, poor or disabled.

Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias was born on July 7, 1929 in New York, though she spent the first few years of her life in Puerto Rico with her family. Upon her return to the United States, she faced racial discrimination while attending public school. Despite receiving good grades and her use of English, Dr. Rodriguez Trias was placed in special education classes. She remained in this setting until she recited a poem by heart and her teacher realized Rodriguez Trias was placed in the wrong class.

After completing high school, Dr. Rodriguez-Trias returned to Puerto Rico for college. During her time as a student, she became involved with the island’s independence movement and participated in a school-wide strike against the university’s chancellor, Jaime Rexach Benitez, who prevented the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party leader, Don Pedro Albizu Campos, from speaking on campus. Because of her involvement in the strike, Dr. Rodriguez-Trias was forced to return to New York City when her brother threatened to cut her off financially. She remained in the United States for several years before returning to the University of Puerto Rico, where she eventually graduated with a BA in 1957 and her medical degree in 1960.

Not long into her medical career, Dr. Rodriguez-Trias worked to address a major need within her immediate community. She established a newborn care clinic in the hospital and under her leadership, Puerto Rico experienced a 50% decrease in newborn mortality rates within the first 3 years of the clinic’s establishment. After completing her residency, she opened a pediatric practice in Puerto Rico and remained there until the 1970s.

At the time, Dr. Rodriguez-Trias was married, but divorced her husband before relocating to the United States. She often cited her divorce as a moment that deeply impacted her on a personal and professional level. "A watershed in my life was getting divorced in Puerto Rico....In my formation as a professional, there was always a kind of pressure to deny or not use a lot of your personal experience....But I was now discovering a whole other world out there through my personal experience of a deceptive marriage. That triggered quite a bit of growth in me toward understanding what happens internally to people, what happens in their lives and what they can do or not do...." (U.S. National Library of Medicine)

That experience would influence her for the rest of her career.

During the 1970s, Dr. Rodriguez Trias worked as the head of the pediatrics department at the Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx. This was a diverse corner of New York with communities from all areas of the globe, including a large Puerto Rican population. During her tenure, Dr. Rodriguez Trias advocated for hospital employees to have a voice in administrative and patient-care issues. She frequently embedded herself in community conversations and encouraged the hospital medical professionals to engage with the community as well, so the medical staff had a better understanding of how outside issues impacted patients’ health.

Around this time, Dr. Rodriguez Trias also became heavily involved in the women’s movement and the women’s health movement, particularly on issues related to abortion access and the reproductive health abuse certain groups of women face. “While many women chose the [sterilization] procedure, health authorities pressured many other--especially working-class and poor women--to agree to it or falsely told them that it was reversible. Similar programs targeted poorer Black women and girls in the American South." ("Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias") To combat these issues, Dr. Rodriguez Trias formed both the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse and the Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse. She testified before the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, advocating for the need for and eventually drafting federal guidelines for the reproductive procedure. The new guidelines featured three key components. First, doctors were required to explain the procedure in language that was accessible and easy to understand. Second, patients were required to submit written consent. Lastly, there was a mandatory wait period between the submission of consent and the medical procedure.

Dr. Rodriguez Trias would continue to speak up for women and children and their access to healthcare for the remainder of her career. On January 8, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Dr. Rodriguez Trias with the Presidential Citizen’s Award in recognition of her advocacy work for women and children impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. And in 2019, New York City commissioned a statue of Dr. Rodriguez Trias that will be placed near the location where Lincoln Hospital once stood.

Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias' life and career serve as examples for medical professionals who wish to impact their patients' lives outside of the hospital or private practice. She dedicated her time and energy to stand alongside the communities who needed equitable access to care and recognized that many outside factors impacted a person's level of health.

To learn more about Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias, please explore Himmelfarb's catalogue which features articles written by the doctor. Or start with 'The Face of Women's Health: Helen Rodriguez-Trias' written by Joyce Wilcox for the American Journal of Public Health.

Bibliography:

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Published on 1 Comment on Student Organization Spotlight: Out for Health

Out for Health (OFH) is a student-led organization here at GW. The current leadership team - Katie Maehl, Aaryan Bhandari, and Emma Wellington - recently took over as co-presidents of the organization. They have a phenomenal team of advisors in Dean Deyton and Dr. Caggiula. I spoke with Katie about the history of OFH, the current state of the organization, and their hopes for the future.

While the name “Out for Health” was coined about seven years ago, there has been an organized LGBTQ+ med student group at GW for much longer. Dean Deyton recalls a GW chapter of the national AMSA LGBT group when he was a med student in 1981. In its current iteration, OFH serves as both an advocacy group, hosting educational events on LGBTQ+ healthcare, and a place to build relationships and a sense of community amongst the LGBTQ+ community at SMHS.

In their advocacy work, OFH has hosted a lecture series on a number of different topics, from facial feminization surgery to health policy. They hope to continue this in the future, specifically mentioning a follow-up to the health policy lecture looking at how the Biden administration has addressed health policy concerns that affect the LGBTQ+ community. Of course, COVID has put a bit of a damper on some of these things - all the lectures they hosted this past year were done via Zoom. Katie mentioned they hope to hold more in-person events in the Fall, though that’s still a bit up in the air.

COVID also impacted the community-building OFH strives for. It’s hard enough to start medical school in the middle of a pandemic, but to also transition to a leadership role in a student organization without those in-person connections you would usually build during your first year is even more difficult. Recently OHF has been exploring safely transitioning to in-person events so they can start creating more of those connections. They had a picnic with the residents and some attendings to hopefully build a broader community across the health sciences at GW, and are hoping to hold similar events once school is back in session. One of their big goals for the future is to build a presence at Pride that includes not just OFH but the whole LGBTQ+ community in the health sciences at GW. There are even ideas to connect with LGBTQ+ med students at other schools in the DC area.

I asked Katie what the GW community could do to best support OFH as they reorient themselves under the new leadership team and with the return to campus. Katie wasn’t entirely sure what needed support might look like, since there’s still so much up in the air at the moment. That being said, “listening, being present, and showing up for events” are all small steps we can take to let OFH know we are here for them. Personally, I also think we need to make sure we are connecting with and supporting not only OFH and their leadership team but all of the Class of 2024. While they’ve been a part of our GW community for a year, it’s been a vastly different experience compared to the typical first year experience. Those of us who have been established at GW for a while are in a position to bridge that gap and help make them feel a part of our community.

Out for Health has a lot of ideas and plans for the future. I cannot wait to see what Katie, Aaryan, and Emma come up with. If you would like to reach out to OFH, send them an email at gwofh@gwu.edu. They’re always looking to connect with people, and if you have suggestions for events those are always welcome!

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Doctor Rachel L. Levine is a physician and public health official who became the first openly transgender woman to be confirmed for federal office by the United States Senate in 2021. She currently serves as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she oversees the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, an office in charge of the nation's public health policy. Dr. Levine plays a key role in the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she also hopes to tackle other major public health issues such as the current opioid crisis and the difficulties LGBTQ+ individuals face when searching for and receiving quality health care.

Born on October 28, 1957 in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Dr. Levine graduated from Harvard College in 1979 and received her M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine in 1983. She completed her medical training in pediatrics at Mount Sinai Medical Center and she continued to practice medicine there until 1993. During her time with Mount Sinai, Dr. Levine focused on the connection between physical and mental health in children and young adults.

In 1993, she moved to Pennsylvania and served as a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. She also founded Penn State Hershey Medical Center's Adolescent Medicine Division and Eating Disorder clinic and she served as the Chief of the Division for several years. She was nominated as Pennsylvania's Physician General in 2015 by Governor Tom Wolf. Her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the state's Senate. She served as the Physician General until 2018 when she was named the state's Secretary of Health. Dr. Levine tackled many public health crises during her tenure as Secretary of Health. One of her biggest initiatives focused on the high number of opioid overdoses. Under her leadership, she authorized law enforcement agents to carry the anti-overdose drug Naloxone that could be administered on the scene. This initiative also allowed Pennsylvanians to purchase Naloxone from a pharmacy without a prescription from a doctor.

Dr. Levine uses her expertise and voice to speak on health inequality issues that impact marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQ+ community. In an interview with ABC News Prime, Dr. Levine said "I am laser focused on my public health mission....That includes, of course, COVID-19, the increasing number of overdose deaths that we're seeing, health equity and many other programs that we need to work on and achieve in public health....I think it is very important to advocate for equality and health equity for the LGBTQ community." She has given countless talks that address her public health initiatives and ideas and has written articles on her research and experiences in the medical field. In 2017, she was named one of NBC News' #Pride30 for her work in addressing the health disparity the LGTBQ+ community faces and in 2015, she served as the Grand Marshal of the Philadelphia Pride Parade.

In a 2020 interview with Philadelphia magazine, Dr. Levine said "One of my goals, being a state health official--especially being the secretary of health during this very challenging time of a global pandemic--is that people will see me. They'll see me doing my work and doing the very best I can to protect the public health of everyone in Pennsylvania." The article's reporter, Emily Goulet, added "....it's about letting people put a face to something they might not understand, so that they aren't fearful, so that they don't get angry, so that it doesn't lead to hate."

If you're interested in learning more about Dr. Rachel L. Levine, check out the articles listed below or watch this brief ABC News Prime interview.

Want to read some of Dr. Levine's published work? Be sure to explore Himmelfarb Library's catalogue for articles, book chapters and books authored by Dr. Levine!

References:

Burns, Katelyn. “Rachel Levine’s Historic Confirmation to the Biden Administration, Explained.” Vox, 24 Mar. 2021, www.vox.com/identities/22242177/rachel-levine-confirmation-biden-hhs-transgender.

“Dr. Rachel Levine: Trans Youth ‘Need to Be Nurtured,’ Not Limited from Activities.” YouTube, uploaded by ABC News, 1 June 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WYsOe7wxTo.

Goulet, Emily. “Rachel Levine Is Saving Pennsylvania — and Becoming an Accidental Icon in the Process.” Philadelphia Magazine, 3 Oct. 2020, www.phillymag.com/news/2020/07/16/rachel-levine-pennsylvania-health.

O’Hara, Mary Emily. “#Pride30: Dr. Rachel Levine Is One of US's Highest-Ranking Trans Officials.” NBC News, 26 June 2017, www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out-pride30/pride30-dr-rachel-levine-pennsylvania-s-transgender-physician-general-n760901.

“Rachel L. Levine, M.D.” HHS.Gov, www.hhs.gov/about/leadership/rachel-levine.html. Accessed 11 June 2021.

Wamsley, Laurel. “Rachel Levine Makes History as 1st Openly Trans Federal Official Confirmed By Senate.” NPR, 24 Mar. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980788146/senate-confirms-rachel-levine-a-transgender-woman-as-assistant-health-secretary.

Zezima, Katie. “Meet Rachel Levine, One of the Very Few Transgender Public Officials in America.” The Washington Post, 1 June 2016, web.archive.org/web/20200329053607/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/meet-rachel-levine-one-of-the-very-few-transgender-public-officials-in-america/2016/06/01/cf6e2332-2415-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html.

“LGBT History Month — October 22: Rachel Levine.” Goqnotes.Com, 22 Oct. 2018, goqnotes.com/61545/lgbt-history-month-october-22-rachel-levine.

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In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year, and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, today's blog post features a highlight of two student organizations: GW APAMSA and GW SAMSA.

APAMSA and SAMSA logos

The Asian Pacific American Medical Association (APAMSA) is a national organization that advocates for the health of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across the US. GW APAMSA is one of the many school-specific chapters organized under the national organization. GW APAMSA is entirely student-led, with a faculty advisor coordinating with the students. I spoke with Isabel Park, the President of GW APAMSA, to get some more information about the GW APAMSA chapter.

National APAMSA has a set of goals and initiatives aimed towards addressing AAPI health disparities and community outreach. GW APAMSA supports these efforts, but the chapter has recently reoriented itself, providing support for the AAPI community at SMHS and standing in solidarity with those experiencing racially motivated attacks. GW APAMSA is working to provide a space for AAPI students and faculty to process and heal, and to create opportunities for allies to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community against anti-Asian hate. Isabel explained “We want people to know that [we’re] hurting too, we want to bring awareness to our allies out there, and create a space for everyone to participate.” Increasing empathy and creating a community of support is vital to the health and wellbeing of the AAPI community at GW.

I asked Isabel how the GW community could best support our GW APAMSA chapter. She explained that there is a gap in knowledge between student-led organizations and the institutional resources that are available to support them, like the Anti-Racism Coalition and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Ensuring student organizations like GW APAMSA are aware of the support that already exists is vital, as being able to collaborate with these institutional organizations opens doors for student-led organizations. On a more individual level, the GW community can amplify the voices of GW APAMSA by promoting and attending their events. The importance of visibly and vocally standing in solidarity with the GW AAPI community cannot be overstated.

If you’d like to get involved, you can email GW APAMSA at gwapamsa@gwu.edu and follow them on Instagram. Additionally, GW APAMSA in partnership with Georgetown APAMSA have the upcoming Dialogue on Model Minority Myths: Stereotypes in Medicine and the Culture of Medicine. The Dialogue is scheduled for May 19th at 5PM EST. Please RSVP for the event - we hope to see you there!

The South Asian Medical Student Association (SAMSA), founded in 2020, is a national organization with a mission that includes “supporting medical students, promoting research initiatives, and advocating the needs of the South Asian American community.” GW SAMSA is one of fifteen chapters within the national organization. GW SAMSA is student-led, with Dr. Narayan serving as their faculty advisor. I spoke with Sarthak Shah on behalf of the GW SAMSA Executive Board, to learn more about GW SAMSA.

Sarthak explained that GW SAMSA “seeks to foster the South Asian Community within the GW SMHS community as well as provide opportunities for fellow South Asians to connect with one another and create a meaningful and long lasting network.” Much like the National SAMSA, they also work to spread awareness of health issues that disproportionately affect South Asians, like cardiovascular health, and health issues that are often overlooked in South Asian communities, like mental health.

When asked how the GW community could best support our SAMSA chapter, Sarthak asked that we work to amplify the mission of GW SAMSA - that we allow them a platform to highlight the important causes they will be promoting. One of the most pressing issues at the moment is COVID relief for India. Organizations like OxygenForIndia, UNICEF, and Care India are working to provide much-needed support and relief. Supporting these organizations with donations, promoting the work they are doing, and continuing to educate ourselves and others on the ongoing crisis are all ways we can support our GW SAMSA chapter, its mission, and the South Asian community at GW.

If you’d like to get involved, you can reach GW SAMSA at gwsamsa@gmail.com, and be sure to connect with them on Facebook!

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Drs. Emily Smith and Heather Young

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown quite a lot of the problems the health sciences community is facing into sharp relief. Questions of equity, access, and resource allocation have all had their turn. While science communication has been a concern throughout the pandemic, the announcement that everyone 16 and older in the United States is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine has foregrounded the need to communicate efficiently and effectively with the general public. Drs. Emily Smith and Heather Young with the Milken School of Public Health have been working hard to communicate COVID-19 information to the general public since the beginning of the pandemic. I took this opportunity to speak with them about their experiences, and to ask their advice for how best to work with the public to combat misinformation and encourage those who might be vaccine hesitant to get vaccinated.

In early 2020, as the new SARS-CoV-2 virus spread around the globe, Dr. Smith noticed the questions her friends, family, and even strangers were posing on the internet. Often these were the same questions - what preventative measures can I take, what do I do if I or a family member think we have it, what is my risk, etc. Because the data and information were so new and this was a rapidly evolving situation, those without a health sciences background were encountering information that just wasn’t written for them. Even her fellow scientists were asking where information was coming from, since everything at this stage was coming from preprints and sourcing reliable numbers was vital. There was a clear need for someone to step in and help translate the science in a way anyone could understand, and to aggregate it into one central location that linked back to primary scientific literature. Thus, COVID-101.org was born. Dr. Smith and a few colleagues established the website as a resource they and their fellow science communicators could link to when asked these questions.

The backbone of COVID-101.org is its review process. Not only do scientists and experts write the articles answering questions and referencing primary scientific literature, their colleagues provide peer review before posting the articles. This is where Dr. Young comes in. Early on in the pandemic, Dr. Young gave a lecture to a group of medical students breaking down the basics of epidemiology. Dr. Smith had recently launched COVID-101.org, and sent out an email asking for contributions. Dr. Young adapted her lecture and submitted it, and she continued collaborating with the other volunteers working on COVID-101.org, both writing and reviewing posts. And that’s one of the key things to remember about COVID-101.org, that all of the contributors are volunteers. Everyone from epidemiologists to undergraduates to web developers, all are volunteering their time and talents. Both Drs. Smith and Young think of this as a silver lining - getting to connect with everyone working on the site, old colleagues and new.

As the pandemic progressed, Drs. Smith and Young saw the purpose of COVID-101.org shifting. In the early days, the site served as an aggregator, compiling information and responding to questions. Dr. Young recalls a specific pivotal moment in the evolution of the site: “When President Trump had his bleach injection moment, it was one of those times where five or six of us jumped on the Slack channel and were like ‘we have to get something out there, it has to be out there quick’... we kind of shifted gears from waiting for people to ask us stuff and decided that we needed to go put a message out there that we thought was important.” A little over a month later, COVID-101.org published a post on the social justice movement and why people may decide to protest during the pandemic, describing the “dual pandemic” of racial injustice and COVID-19. These two instances compelled COVID-101.org contributors to take a more active role in creating messaging and putting accurate information where the public could find it.

When they started working on COVID-101.org, neither Dr. Smith nor Dr. Young had extensive experience with science communication. Dr. Smith had some experience in her work with the Gates Foundation, translating scientific data and information for policy makers. Dr. Young, on the other hand, didn’t have any “formal” experience, though she believes teaching requires a similar mindset of distilling complex information in a way students can understand. I asked what they had learned through this process, and what advice they might have for others in the health sciences community who are trying to counter misinformation and, in particular, address vaccine hesitancy.

Both Dr. Smith and Dr. Young described two important things they’ve taken away from their work on COVID-101.org. First, you want to encourage people when they do ask a question. Let them know it’s a good thing that they have this question. Lead with that attitude, and people will be more receptive to your answer. Understand that the misinformation people encounter may have a kernel of truth in it. Acknowledge that, without dismissing their concerns or mocking whatever misinformation it is. As Dr. Young said, you have to “meet people where they are.” Have a conversation with them, rather than lecturing them. Frame the conversation as a way to equip them with information to come to their own decisions rather than convincing them one way or another. Second, you need to make your answer specific to a person’s life. Dr. Smith recalls one of the earliest posts on COVID-101.org: 

One of the first posts we put out before things were shut down was “no you shouldn’t go to a large gathering.” And the questions we got in response were things like “Can I go to this concert?” or “Can I go to this game?” These follow up questions that, to me, should have already been answered by the post. But it wasn’t specific enough, and it wasn’t specific to their life. As a scientist it feels kind of duplicative or I worry that it’s too much the same, but I think that’s one of the valuable ways that we can add here and same for anyone trying to communicate with other people.

Dr. Emily Smith

Dr. Young echoed this, describing the need to “repeat and repackage” for individuals. Everyone is approaching risk assessment and the pandemic with their own lived experiences. If we can make our information relevant to their experiences, it makes it easier for them to incorporate that information into their lives. A recent concept introduced on COVID-101.org, the risk budget, can help people situate the information they are getting within the context of their own life.

Not all of our work combating misinformation or vaccine hesitancy occurs with people on the internet, however. Quite often friends and family members will come to those of us who work in the health sciences with their questions, seeing us as a trusted and valuable source. While the information you’re providing doesn’t change, having that pre-existing relationship with someone can make it easier to encourage them to think critically about the misinformation they’ve encountered. Dr. Young describes telling friends and family “Well, okay, maybe you don’t trust the scientists in the lab, but you trust me, right? And I’m not going to tell you to do something that I legitimately would think is harmful.” Dr. Smith also sees the opportunity to give people the facts “within the context of their life.” You know these people and can tailor your response in a way that makes sense to them.

So how do we best communicate with our friends, family, and even strangers? It’s a difficult line to walk, and one that is becoming increasingly important as access to the COVID-19 vaccine expands. The best thing you can do is prepare yourself with readily available resources. Of course, COVID-101.org is an excellent place to start. If you can’t find an answer to your question, you can always ask them. Himmelfarb Library has also put together a Correcting Misinformation with Patients Research Guide. It has tons of resources, information on communication techniques, and even specifically addresses vaccine hesitancy. The Conversation: Between Us, About Us video series from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Black Coalition Against COVID is a living video library and a phenomenal resource for the black community featuring answers from black scientists, black doctors, and black nurses. While The Conversation's target audience is the black community, the information is clearly communicated and could be useful to others. NIH’s Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) has some great resources focused on engaging communities most at risk. If you’re looking for continuing education (CE) opportunities, LearnToVaccinate.org has a number of CE activities related to patient communication. This is a pivotal moment for the health sciences community, and we as a whole need to be ready to answer questions empathetically and accurately. There has already been a great deal of progress and reason for optimism - over 50% of US adults have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Armed with these resources, we can meet the general public and encourage everyone to get fully vaccinated. And hopefully we can harness the tools and lessons learned from the pandemic and apply those to other areas of science communication. The more informed the public is the more we are all empowered to make the right decisions for our health and the health of our communities.

As always, if you have any questions you can reach us via email at himmelfarb@gwu.edu. If you’re interested in volunteering on the COVID-101.org project, reach out via the Ask Us page on the site.

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Running from March 13th through April 15th, National Deaf History Month is a time to honor the contributions of deaf individuals and the deaf community and learn more about the ongoing advocacy work deaf organizations undertake in order to make the world accessible to deaf and hard of hearing individuals. 

This awareness month runs through March and April because it recognizes three key, historical moments that impacted the deaf community. On March 13, 1988, the ‘Deaf President Now’ or DPN movement successfully campaigned for a deaf president to be installed at Gallaudet University. April 8 marks the anniversary of the founding of Gallaudet University, the only higher education institution for deaf and hard of hearing students. The university is named after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an influential figure whose research and advocacy led to an improved educational system for deaf and hard of hearing children. Finally, April 15th commemorates the founding of the American School for the Deaf, one of the first public schools for deaf children. 

National Deaf History Month is not a federally recognized holiday, yet many organizations and advocacy groups continue to lobby Congress for recognition. There have been improvements in deaf accessibility in and out of a classroom setting, yet many deaf individuals must navigate a world that frequently privileges hearing people. 

There are countless ways hearing people can serve as allies to the deaf and hard of hearing community. First and most importantly, listen to the stories and experiences of deaf people. Deaf people have documented their experiences and should be the experts on how to help their community. Gallaudet University maintains a list of books related to deaf history and this is a great starting point to learn more about deaf history and culture. If you’re interested in learning about the deaf community’s relationship to the medical community, consider this 2020 article from Hour Detroit that profiles Dr. Philip Zazove, the third deaf person licensed to practice medicine within the United State. And pick up Dr. Zazove’s memoir, When the Phone Rings, My Bed Shakes: Memoirs of a Deaf Doctor, which is available for check out through a Consortium Loan Service request. And watch these two TEDtalks that feature deaf presenters:

You may consider taking a sign language course and learning more about the rules and nuances of this language. Check with your city’s library as many offer ASL courses to the public. Or check out ASL Connect, an online service from Gallaudet University, that offers basic ASL vocabulary videos and free online ASL lessons. Deaf rights advocacy groups are still working to make the world accessible for deaf and hard of hearing individuals and families. Explore the National Association of the Deaf’s website and learn more about ongoing civil rights issues facing deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Search for ways to ally with the deaf community as they fight for equity in education, healthcare and other important areas of their life.

April 15th marks the end of National Deaf History Month, yet we must continue to educate ourselves on the deaf community and the current barriers they face. If you’re interested in exploring the history of the deaf community, check out any of the resources linked in this article! 

References

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In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, this week’s blog post will feature a conversation with Dr. Amanda Castel, MD, MPH.

Dr. Amanda Castel is a Professor of Epidemiology at GW. She received her BA in Biology from Brown, her MD from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MPH from Johns Hopkins. I was honored to speak with Dr. Castel about her work at GW, experiences as an infectious disease expert during a global pandemic, and her thoughts on health inequality and stigmatization.

From a young age, Dr. Castel wanted to be a doctor, and in particular a pediatrician. Born in Liberia in West Africa, Dr. Castel’s mother frequently told her about another baby born around the same time. They were both ill, but because Dr. Castel’s family is American they were able to fly her to the US for treatment. As she grew up, her family traveled internationally quite often for her parents’ work. She was able to see how other parts of the world deliver healthcare and was inspired by the idea she could “possibly make a difference and improve people’s lives.” During the course of her education, Dr. Castel took a year off to do a Fulbright Fellowship in Senegal, doing research on prevention and mother/child transmission of HIV. Through this experience, she caught the “public health bug” and decided to join her clinical interests with her public health experience. Speaking to Dr. Castel you can see her understanding of how privileged we are as Americans and her drive to create more equitable healthcare access.

After finishing her degrees, Dr. Castel worked in the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service Program and was assigned to the Maryland Department of Health in their Communicable Disease Program. She describes the experience as being “a foot soldier. You are in the trenches, you’re working with county health departments… you’re doing all kinds of disease investigations.” This gave Dr. Castel the training to marry her clinical experience with her public health experience.

In early 2020, Dr. Castel watched as severely understaffed and under resourced health departments braced for the impending COVID-19 pandemic. On March 14th, 2020, Dr. Castel rolled up her sleeves, walked over to the DC Health Department, and told them “I’m here. What do you need?” In the early days of the pandemic, Dr. Castel recalls scrambling to keep ahead of the curve. The health department worked on case investigations with very limited contact tracing. The numbers were increasing so quickly they just didn’t have the bandwidth and workforce to keep up with them. As scary as those days were, from a scientific perspective they were “fascinating.” Learning how this virus worked, the transmission and symptomatology - it was a firsthand experience not many people get. Dr. Castel describes it as “professionally a very fulfilling experience.”

Alongside her work with the health department, Dr. Castel has been teaching infectious disease epidemiology at the GW School of Public Health. As part of that course, Dr. Castel tries to drive home the point that these diseases are everywhere, if you look at the news you can probably find something about an outbreak every day. January 2020, she and her students began tracking this new respiratory virus. As time went on and the pandemic progressed, these students had the opportunity to learn more about COVID within the course. When GW pivoted to online learning in March, that created a new set of challenges for educators. Dr. Castel commented on the difficulties that arise from not being in the same room as your students, that “the dynamic is different,” but even with these challenges “the students are continuing to learn and grow.” These same students are now working with health departments doing case investigations or other COVID response tasks. Those in the current cohort will be working in public health moving forward. Looking for a silver lining in times when finding them is hard, the preparation Dr. Castel gave these students is having a palpable impact on people’s lives. 

Given her research in HIV/AIDS, Dr. Castel was uniquely situated to understand the ways this pandemic might unfold. In July 2020, Dr. Castel and some of her colleagues from the School of Public Health published an article discussing the synergies between HIV and COVID-19. Despite the major differences between the two viruses, it is astonishing to consider the similarities. Looking back at the beginnings of the HIV epidemic, the process of learning “which populations were most at risk, how to get testing to people, how we prevent infections, contact tracing, these core public health methods” have all been applicable to COVID-19 as well. And what we have learned through these processes are incredibly similar. The populations most disproportionately affected, racial and ethnic minorities, are the same.

Dr. Castel has researched the social ramifications of HIV, the stigmatization and public misconceptions, and the way these intersect to make treating people living with HIV harder. She does see parallels with COVID-19, especially now as vaccines become more available. Seeing the different numbers coming out from Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Castel had a genuine concern that “the general public wouldn’t understand the nuances,” and that might translate into stigmatization based on the type of vaccine being offered. It might raise questions like “If you only offer me the one that’s less effective are you discriminating against me?” And that is part of why it is so important for medical professionals and public health professionals to be able to explain these differences to the public, to understand their fears and concerns and respond to them with the facts in a way they can understand. Dr. Castel felt this especially strongly “as an African American woman working in the field,” with friends and family coming to her with their questions and concerns. Translating that information can be difficult, but it’s a vital part of the work Dr. Castel does, and a crucial part of what she teaches her students.

Despite the difficulties of the past year, Dr. Castel is hopeful. The urgency with which the scientific community responded to the pandemic has the potential to impact other areas of healthcare as well. Perhaps there will be a chance to “take some of that innovation and technology and apply it to HIV research.” But she has tempered that hope with the understanding that “the calculus is different.” COVID-19 is a pandemic that has impacted everyone, put us all at risk. The population most at risk from exposure to HIV is not one that is prioritized in the same way. It’s a stark reminder that even in the United States healthcare is not inherently equitable. Despite the fact that HIV “drastically alters the world [of those infected] in the ways that COVID has altered the rest of ours” there is an unwillingness to apply the same sense of urgency to HIV. Hopefully, as we begin to return to some sense of normalcy, those of us in the health sciences will be empowered to advocate for this kind of research. Those of us in positions of privilege who can speak to the healthcare needs of stigmatized populations need to work on communicating those needs to the general public. We can advocate for change, and call on our government to end the cycle of failing people living with HIV. We need to reevaluate our current healthcare system and public health professionals, like Dr. Castel, are ready to rise to the occasion. Of the lessons we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most important is that with a sense of urgency, adequate funding, and research, it’s possible to develop long-term solutions to viruses and diseases that still harm marginalized communities.

To learn more about the history of HIV/AIDS health policy in the US, take a look at this article covering 35 years of policy. To learn more about advocating on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS, read this commentary from Topics in Antiviral Medicine. To learn more about Dr. Castel’s work, browse her publications indexed in the Health Sciences Research Commons.

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Published on 1 Comment on Dr. Raymond Pla on Caring, Giving, and Outreach

In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year, and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, this week’s blog post will feature a conversation with Dr. Raymond Pla, MD.

A photo of Dr. Raymond Pla
Dr. Raymond Pla

Dr. Raymond Pla is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at GW. He received his BS from Emory, then went on to Meharry Medical School, one of four HBCU medical schools, for his MD. I was honored to speak with Dr. Pla about his path to the health sciences, the work he does as a Professor at GW, and his people-first approach to advocacy, particularly when speaking with communities of color.

Dr. Pla did not always intend to go into medicine, he “had the same dreams that you commonly encounter when you're talking to young boys.” Even when he first started his BS program in Biology at Emory, he did not intend to go into medicine, though it was an option. The summer after his Junior year, however, that changed. Over the summer, he had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Clive Callendar at Howard University, going on rounds, in the ICU, and even observing in the OR. A titan in the field of transplantation, especially kidney and liver, Dr. Callendar’s high expectations of his residents, interns, and even the young Dr. Pla set a high standard for medical education. What most fascinated Dr. Pla during his time in the OR was “that person up at the head of the table, on the other side of what we call the ether screen… the anesthesiologist.” Eventually, Dr. Pla started observing with the anesthesiologist, learning what their role was in transplant surgery. Seeing the patients the next day, looking at their labs and seeing the changes in their clinical course overnight, was the second most impactful part of the experience. When Dr. Pla started at Meharry, his classmates reported he already had every intention of going into anesthesiology.

The impact Dr. Callendar had on Dr. Pla is evident, as is Dr. Pla’s desire to pay that influence forward in his practice and teaching. He described what he considers the two most important things doctors, especially those in academic medicine, do. First, “we care.” It is not just about an accurate diagnosis or a successful course of treatment. The foundation of those things is caring - thinking about a patient’s condition in the shower or on a jog or sitting in traffic, jotting down a realization and following up on it the next day, revising the patient’s treatment plan based on these considerations and reflections. And sticking with patients, following them throughout their course of treatment. Dr. Pla described the importance of making time for patients as a part of this, saying “We’ll sit and listen when we don’t have time. When we’re busy, we have someplace else that we need to be. We will redefine where we need to be and where we need to be at this moment is sitting with this person, with their family, to answer questions. Or sit and listen.”

The second of these most important things is “when we give of ourselves to the next generation, the same way that someone gave of themselves.” And he tied giving back into caring, as it is part of caring. Giving can take many forms. Reflecting on your teaching, updating what or how you teach. Dr. Pla recounted a story of a summer he spent at the United States Naval Academy, and a Professor of Electrical Engineering he met there. This Professor received word that a pilot had overshot the carrier deck and put their plane into the ocean. The pilot was not hurt, but this Professor asked himself “Was there something I didn’t teach that young man that had I taught him, had he known, would have prevented what could have been a fatal accident?” Hearing from graduates of the residency program about how something he taught them prevented an injury or a loss of life, particularly in airway management, reinforces that you are teaching those vital things.

When speaking with Dr. Pla it is abundantly evident that teaching is his favorite part of the work he does at GW. He lights up when talking about “The Forgotten Four,” encouraging his students to consider treatments and medications that tend to be overlooked or kept in the back of your mind, and bringing those forward. Because bringing those forward can quite literally save a life. He considers that an “ethical duty, a moral duty.” The themes of moral and ethical duties as medical practitioners echoed throughout our conversation.

Recently, Dr. Pla has made appearances on local news, encouraging the African-American community to get the COVID-19 vaccine. As one of the first people in DC to receive the vaccine, Dr. Pla says he felt an obligation to speak to his community and encourage them to get the vaccine. There is an understandable mistrust of the medical establishment within black and brown communities. Most of us can cite Tuskegee, World War II, Henrietta Lacks, Baltimore. But when we cite these infamous atrocities we overlook the personal atrocities people of color experience on a regular basis. While there is still a great deal of work to be done to rebuild that trust, to eliminate systemic racism within medicine, there is an immediate need to get vaccines to these communities that are being disproportionately affected by the virus. Because when these communities see those who have earned their mistrust saying this vaccine is the only way forward, they “[have] no hope for a better future… a pandemic-free future.” Dr. Pla sees his outreach as a way to help bring hope back to his community, to begin addressing the legacy of racism in medicine, and to hopefully earn back some trust. He hopes to continue this work in a meaningful way, to encourage colleagues and students to do their part as members of the medical community, and to address the other epidemics facing communities of color - infant mortality, maternal mortality, advanced heart disease, breast cancer, etc., all of which disproportionately affect people of color. It is “a moral calling for those of us who value lives.”

There is still so much work to be done. But, as Dr. Pla argues, just because this is a daunting task does not mean we should dismiss it. It does not mean we should despair, or give up hope. During our conversation he invoked a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” It is a quote often invoked to remind us that the work we do today is but part of the work necessary. That the immediate is but a small part of the whole. Quite often allies, including myself at times, use this quote as an excuse to not take action when we are most needed. With Dr. Pla’s invocation, those of us who consider ourselves allies in the medical community should answer the call not to conversation, but to action. We must take steps to ensure communities of color are treated with dignity and receive a level of medical care that keeps them healthy, honoring their community-based needs and concerns.

To learn more about these issues and what you can do, explore the NEJM’s Race and Medicine collection; browse articles on systemic racism in the Himmelfarb Collection; engage with the resources and educational series from the Anti-Racism Coalition at SMHS.

To explore more of Dr. Pla’s work, you can browse his articles indexed in the Health Sciences Research Commons.

Published on

In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year, and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, this week’s blog post will cover Dr. Charles R. Drew. 

Born June 3, 1904 in Washington DC, Charles Richard Drew was an African-American physician whose research and scholarship on blood banks had such a profound impact that we still feel the ramifications of his work decades after his death.  

Though he grew up in a segregated city, the African-American community in Washington DC was filled with well-educated, civic-minded families. At an early age, Drew learned  the importance of a formal education and engagement with your community which impacted his future medical career. While Drew was a great student, he was a far better athlete. After graduating from Dunbar High School in 1922, he attended Amherst College in Massachusetts on an athletic scholarship, where he was an important member of the track and football teams. There are several factors that eventually led to Drew pursuing a career in the medical field. He credits his biology teacher, Otto Glaser, with helping him develop an interest in medicine and science. In 1920, his oldest sister, Elsie, died from complications from influenza and during his college years, he was severely injured and temporarily hospitalized. These experiences pushed him to learn more about medicine and were the foundations of him eventually becoming a physician. 

After graduating from Amherst College in 1926, Drew worked for Morgan College (now Morgan State University) as an athletic director and instructor of biology and chemistry. He put aside money to help finance his medical school education. At the time, there were only a few medical institutions that allowed African-Americans to enroll in their programs. He applied to Howard University College of Medicine, but was denied admission. He was accepted into the medical program at Harvard, but the school wanted to defer his enrollment until the following year. Eventually, Drew moved to Canada and studied medicine at McGill University in Montreal. He graduated from the university in 1933 and completed his internship and surgical residency at Montreal General Hospital, where he would meet professor John Beattie, whose work on transfusion influenced Drew when he researched blood bank capabilities. In 1935, Drew returned to the United States to work for Howard University College of Medicine. 

In 1940, Drew was tapped to direct the Blood for Britain project. At the time, Great Britain was under attacked by Germany and was in need of blood and plasma. Thanks to Drew’s research on ‘banking’ blood, he was knowledgeable on how to collect and safely store blood for later transfusion without the blood and fluids losing their effectiveness while outside the body. His work as the Blood for Britain project was so successful that he was later appointed as the assistant director of a national blood banking systems program. This program was jointly sponsored by the National Research Council and the American Red Cross. 

Drew still faced discrimination and frustration within the medical community in regards to its treatment of the African-American community. He spoke out against the discriminatory practices that barred African-Americans from blood donation. Eventually the policy was amended, but African-American blood was kept separate from blood donated by white donors. Drew was also highly critical of the medical communities’ exclusion of Black physicians from national organizations, such as the American Medical Association. 

Drew continued to work to uplift the education standards for Black physicians and remained an outspoken critic of discriminatory policies and practices within the medical community. He died on April 1, 1950 after sustaining serious injuries after a car accident. Though he died at a young age, Drew’s research would continue to have an impact on the medical community and would receive recognition and awards for decades to come. Throughout Washington DC and the country, there are buildings and landmarks that honor the late Dr. Charles Drew and his legacy. 

Black and white photograph of Dr. Charles Richard Drew.

This blog article serves to provide a brief glimpse into the life and research of Dr. Charles Drew. To learn more about this prolific figure or to read some of his research, check out the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s collection titled, The Charles R. Drew Papers, which feature photographs, scholarly research, personal letters and other artefacts from the doctor’s life. You can also browse Himmelfarb Library’s collection for articles related to Drew and his research. 

Work Cited:

Published on
Black and white hands clasping in unity.
Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year, and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, this week’s blog post will cover the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) Anti-Racism Coalition (ARC).

The GW Anti-Racism Coalition is working to promote thoughtful conversations and active anti-racism efforts by the medical community. ARC recognizes the “ethnic and cultural diversity of the varied learners in our medical enterprise and their subsequent interaction with and care for an internationally heterogeneous patient population” and is committed to “the development and active implementation of an antiracist academic community to identify and eradicate all forms of racism and ethnic oppression.” While dismantling racism within the medical education community, the subsequent patient interactions and even within our interactions with each other is an enormous undertaking, ARC is committed to doing the difficult and necessary work towards reaching this end goal.

One way the group is developing an antiracist academic community is through the ARC Educational Series, a series of lectures and workshops centered around topics of race, racism, and anti-racism. The next session in this series, entitled Moving Beyond Bystanding...to Disrupting Racism, will take place on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 12:00pm-1:30pm. In this bystander training session, Dr. Lanre O. Falusi (MD, FAA), and Dr. Maranda C. Ward (EdD, MPH) will discuss how positions of power and privilege operate in ways that are often taken for granted. Characteristics and challenges of being a bystander and disruptor of racism will be discussed.

On Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 7:00pm, ARC will host a discussion of the film Black Men in White Coats. This documentary examines the systemic barriers that prevent black men from becoming medical doctors and the societal consequences of this fact. The movie will be available for pre-screening from February 22nd through February 25th. 

Recordings of past sessions are available on the ARC Educational Series website. Past sessions include:

  • Understanding the Connection between Race and Social Determinants of Health
  • Medicine, Public Health, and Anti-Racism Activism: The Life and Career of Dr. Virginia M. Alexander
  • Race in America Lecture Series: “1619: Reflecting on the Legacy of Slavery in America” - A Conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • How to Talk about Race, Power, and Privilege in Classroom and Clinical Settings
  • Structural Racism and Health Professions Education
  • “It’s Not You, It’s Me”: Preventing Bias in Personal, Professional, and Patient-Related Interactions
  • LGBTQ Health and Policy in the Biden-Administration
  • Developing a Dangerous Unselfishness

Links to additional anti-racism resources are also available. Whether you are you a long time-advocate for racial equality and equity, or are new to the plight for racial justice, ARC has resources and educational sessions available that can help facilitate your personal anti-racist growth. 

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