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There is a consistent conversation around the lack of diversity at the coaching and executive levels of sports. These disparities are even more apparent in the National Football League (NFL), where approximately 70 percent of its players are Black, and only 14 percent of 122 hires since 2003 were not white, the Wallstreet Journal reports. While much work is needed to increase diversity among the staff closest to the field, the NFL is making strides to ensure that diversity and inclusion are a part of the strategy. And, where is it being implemented? Sports medicine.
A sign-on bonus from a job is always a win. However, for one Black Houston doctor, her moment of victory was swiftly taken away due to discriminatory practices. ABC13 reports that Dr. Malika Mitchell-Stewart had recently completed her residency before securing a position at Valley Oaks Medical Group. The Black Houston doctor was subsequently awarded a $16,000 check from her newly acquired position. Dr. Malika Mitchell-Stewart then went to JPMorgan Chase Bank at First Colony Branch in Sugar Land to deposit her new earnings. Unfortunately, her celebration was cut short. According to a lawsuit, staff members at JPMorgan Chase began to ask Dr. Malika Mitchell-Stewart unwarranted questions pertaining to her check and position as a doctor, ABC13 reports. Dr. Stewart describes feeling like a criminal after showing her check. JPMorgan Chase ultimately led with a decision to refuse Dr. Stewart’s service and declared the check fraudulent. Stewart believes she was targeted due to the color of...
Hearing of wedded couples giving back to their alma maters is always a heartwarming story. It pulls on one’s heartstrings, even more, when the school is where the lovebirds both met and married. This beautiful order of events is the love story of Drs. Toni and David Wilkes, who are now paying it forward to the Lewis Katz School of Medicine — Temple University’s medical school. According to Temple Health News, the 1982 graduates have donated $2 million to the school. The intent behind their gift is to establish an endowed scholarship fund for students underrepresented in medicine. “There’s deep purpose in this scholarship, ” said Dr. Toni Wilkes. “In addition to what it means to us, it’s a thank-you to Temple for giving us a superb education.” Dr. David Wilkes added: “Our scholarship is an enactment of principles and priorities that we — and Temple — prize.”
Dr. Brian Nwannunu, an adult-reconstruction fellow in orthopedics at Baylor College of Medicine, specializes more than just in the musculoskeletal system; he’s working to diversify the orthopedic surgery industry. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reported that as of 2018, 84.7 percent of orthopedic surgeons identify as white, 6.7 percent identify as Asian, and 2.2 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino. This lack of diversity intensifies since only 1.9 percent of orthopedic surgeons identify as Black, and less than one percent are Native American. There isn’t just a lack of diversity in the orthopedic industry; there’s a lack of acceptance that Black people can work in this medical field. “A few of my rotations, the general culture, and the underlying message was, ‘We don’t want anyone that doesn’t look like us,'” Nwannunu, who is a first-generation Nigerian American, told the Houston Chronicle in an interview . “They don’t feel like they can relate to you. They would...
Medical physicians have been overworked more than ever this past year, and Dr. Margaret Towolawi took matters into her own hands when the burnout became too real. Dr. Towolawi is a board certified family physician who has been practicing for over a decade in the Seattle area. She cares for children and adults through a variety of services including women’s health , gender affirming care and chronic disease management. Dr. Towolawi previously worked for a large medical group but she left to launch Nurture Wellness Center, her own direct primary care practice which officially opened for business last month. “After close to eight years, I found myself burned out with over 2,000 patients assigned to my patient panel,” Dr. Towolawi told AfroTech in an interview. “Opening a direct primary care practice, with a focus on lifestyle medicine, has been my personal solution to addressing many of the problems within the traditional healthcare setting for physicians and patients alike.” While it...
Dr. Kanika Bowen-Jallow has made history by becoming the ninth-ever female Black pediatric surgeon in the United States. And while this feat is impressive, it is also further proof of the disparity between Black health and the presence of Black doctors. According to ABC 8 Dallas, Dr. Bowen-Jallow is a Black pediatric surgeon at the Cook Children’s new hospital in Prosper, Texas. Bowen-Jallow, who said she was inspired to become a doctor from the day she got the board game “Operation” as a gift, said that while she was fortunate to come from the background she came from, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, for her, how few Black doctors there are in the medical field — as well as the disparities between the races in health education. “When I got my COVID vaccine I took a video of it, and I sent it out to my friends and family because I had been getting is it safe? Is it OK? Are you going to take it?” she told the ABC affiliate. “It shouldn’t be that you get to college before you...
We all know the importance of on-screen representation in media and entertainment, but most of all we know that representation is crucial to kids growing up in this ever-changing world. Content from shows that children consume on a daily basis are extremely influential on their upbringing and how they see the world. Disney is a network that takes heed to this notion, which is why we’ve seen it rollout a slate of positive and informative television series with characters who have become role models for kids — just like “Doc McStuffins.” According to MSNBC, after Disney Junior launched “Doc McStuffins” — an animated series about a young girl who aspires to be a doctor like her mom — it quickly became cable TV’s top-rated preschool series and the spark responsible for starting a social movement about diversity and inclusion in medicine. For one local physician, the work of this social movement didn’t just start and stop at what was being displayed on-screen, she knew it needed to...
By becoming the first African-American woman to earn an MD, Rebecca Lee Crumpler (born Rebecca Davis) paved the way for countless future physicians and medical professionals of color. Though Rebecca Cole was previously credited with this distinction, it was, in fact, Crumpler who earned this honor in 1864 (three years before Cole). Born in Delaware in 1831 , Crumpler’s parents were Absolum Davis and Matilda Weber. However, she was raised by an aunt in Pennsylvania — a woman who cared for neighbors who had fallen ill. It’s believed that the time under her aunt’s care may have influenced her career choice. She moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1852 and worked as a nurse from 21 until 29. She did so without formal training as the first nursing school would not open until 1873. She also married Wyatt Lee, a former slave, shortly after she arrived in Charleston. Her efforts helped her gain acceptance and win a scholarship to the New England Female Medical College in 1860. During...
Meet Dr. Theo Nyame, the Ghanaian-born plastic surgeon transforming lives in Charlotte and across the world. The Harvard-trained board-certified doctor specializes in reconstructive surgery and aesthetic and has had to work his way up to become one of the most highly rated plastic surgeons in America, reports Face2Face Africa. Dr. Nyame was just eight-years-old when he and his family relocated to the Bronx, New York from Ghana for better opportunities. “So my brother and I were born in Ghana, West Africa in a small village. When I was about eight years old, my parents brought our family to the United States,” he tells Face2Face Africa. “We grew up in the South Bronx. From there, we began our educational accomplishments.” With a determination to make it, Dr. Nyame and his brother, Kwasi, were serious when it came to their studies which they both can attest to working out — now that they are successful within the field of surgery. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Cornell...
Black and brown communities have been hit hard with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ravaging neighborhoods across the country. However, medical professionals are working vigilantly to develop treatments for the illness. According to NBC News , Black scientists from Meharry Medical College have reportedly been developing an antiviral drug for the virus, and hope to test the treatment in the next two weeks. Meharry Medical College — founded in 1876 in Nashville, TN — was originally built to teach enslaved Africans how to practice medicine and assist underserved communities, as reported by NBC News. For years, Meharry has had a hand in producing over 4,800 Black doctors, 83 percent of whom work in Black or underserved communities, NBC News reports. Dr. Armen Henderson, a Meharry alum, has been helping to test the homeless community in Miami, FL — for COVID-19 — since March. The Florida doctor was recently racially profiled in front of his home before going to volunteer, as...