Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Discovering Solidarity: An American Indian’s First Day of Medical School

2020; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 95; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/acm.0000000000003237

1938-808X

Lala L. Forrest,

Diversity and Career in Medicine

To the Editor: I am from the Pit River Nation in Northern California, and my decision to go to college and then to medical school was profoundly arduous. Growing up in an unstable environment, I was forced to help care for my 2 younger brothers. I deliberated over whether leaving them behind was worth the education; I feared the guidance I provided to my brothers would be replaced with abuse, drugs, and complacency. Other family members were unenthused that I would become the first in my family to attend college, warning “don’t be thinking you are better than us now.” A persistent obstacle in college was the dearth of role models. So, I had no real expectations of experiencing solidarity at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine either, even though it belongs to an institution named after the indigenous peoples of Connecticut. However, on my first day, I finally met a faculty member whose story reminded me of my own. Dr. Don Sawyer III, vice president of equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Quinnipiac University, was raised in Harlem. He shared with our class that drugs, violence, incarceration, and poverty were part of his community’s “reality;” he alone of his friends “made it out” and got a college degree. As he spoke these words, I felt an unanticipated sense of understanding. For the first time, a faculty member’s background resonated with my own. Maybe I could be vulnerable with him about my experiences as a person of color? Perhaps seek advice about my ambitious goal of helping to address the health care needs of underserved American Indian and Alaska Native people. I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Sawyer to see if the connection I perceived was authentic. We talked about our family histories, the barriers we encountered in college, and how to create an inclusive environment for underrepresented minorities and indigenous voices in our campus community. We talked through how leaning into and being comfortable with my developing professional identity would nourish my confidence and enthusiasm and how it would make me more apt to reach out to network, advocate, and hold onto a well-thought-out approach to my short- and long-term goals. I write this letter to say that diversity and inclusion efforts are working. Be like Dr. Sawyer and reach out to incoming students. Help them feel, perhaps for the first time, that academia will nurture and support someone like them. Acknowledgments: The author gratefully acknowledges Douglas McHugh, PhD, MHPE, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, for his support and help refining this letter, and Brooks Leitner, Yale School of Medicine, for his encouragement and intellectual discussions. Lala L. ForrestFirst-year medical student, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, Quinnipiac University, North Haven, Connecticut; [email protected]; Twitter: @Lala_Forrest; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5407-4206.