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Diversity

Student Blog

Join students at the USC School of Medicine Greenville on their journeys to become exceptional physician leaders by following the student blog. The links below are blog posts that specifically highlight diversity topics.

The History Will Tell You What You Need To Know

Medical educators to this day struggle to address the racial and gender disparities that exist in the physician workforce. While significant progress has been made to eliminate gender disparities, with female matriculants outnumbering male matriculants in 2017 and 2018, racial disparities remain. The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that only 7.1% of matriculants to U.S. medical schools in 2018 were Black or African American, despite Blacks and African Americans comprising 13.4% of the general population of the U.S.

A Familial Foundation

Leading up to Giving Day, I’ve been reflecting on how the generosity and sacrifices of others have influenced not only my decision to pursue a career in medicine, but also to persevere when things go south. My parents played a crucial role in making this reality possible, and I will forever be grateful to them. But last year, thanks to the USCSOMG Benevolence Fund (student emergency fund), I was able to visit two additional people in Mexico whom I respect deeply and were instrumental in setting the foundation for my medical career: my grandparents. Having the opportunity to spend time with my grandparents in the town of La Cañada Michoacán, Mexico, my birthplace, gave me greater insight into the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the start of my education in the United States.

How many countries can you see in one morning?

Costa Rica. Uruguay. Cuba. Puerto Rico. Mexico. Dominican Republic. South Carolina. Colombia. Dr. López excitedly marked down the places of origin of each of the patients we had seen in his clinic that morning. It was impressive, like we were at the Olympics and there was a representative from nearly half the nations in the western hemisphere. But this was a family medicine clinic in Simpsonville, South Carolina....

White Coats for Black Lives

The hashtags #Blacklivesmatter and #whitecoats4blacklives have been dominating social media for the past month. Pictures of people protesting and medical students participating in “die-in” demonstrations at their medical schools have also surfaced. How did we end up here? Racial tension between African Americans and the police has been a longstanding, controversial issue. Only July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died after a white police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, put him in a chokehold, even though he repeated to the police officer, “I can’t breathe.” The grand jury decided not to indict Officer Pantaleo based on a lack of evidence. One month later, an African American teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson. The jury did not have enough evidence to indict Officer Wilson of any wrongdoing. However, political unrest swept the nation because many people believed that the Eric Garner and Michael Brown’s deaths were due to the color of their skin.

 

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