“ It is extremely important for students … and those in the medical community to actively support the BLM movement because education does not end on campus . Education is also recognizing the flaws and weaknesses of our community and culture so we can be a better version of ourselves for our community , which in turn will lead to a change of this negative culture of bias that is imbedded in our communities today .” Nella Delva , third-year Ph . D . candidate in biomedical sciences
“ Judging from the little time I have gotten to know some of my classmates , I think FSU COM does a great job selecting students who are aware of these disparities and want to be part of the solution . Hearing many of the responses from classmates after the tragedy of George Floyd ’ s death has been enlightening and has made me proud to be a part of FSU COM . … I am confident that my classmates and I will become physicians that try to bridge the gaps between the social , economic , and health equity disparities that persist in our society .” Zakrey Cox , M . D . Class of ‘ 24
Colin Hackley
“ I think what has happened with COVID-19 is seen as a health-equity multiplier . It ’ s not that racism wasn ’ t there , or inequities weren ’ t already there , but COVID-19 really brought it to light at the same time people were dealing with tragedies and very visible racist actions . “ We have those barriers to good health and COVID-19 shed light on it . “ I believe God is going to help us through this thing and we are going to be in a better place as people , but I think it has to be intentional . We have to be proactive and actively anti-racism ; we have to be intentional . And that ’ s the thing that is so important : It can ’ t be led by people that are just minority populations or people that have been at the wrong end of racism ; it has to be everybody taking ownership , taking responsibility to educate themselves , to deal with their own personal bias , deal with the institutional systemic things and figure out how to act together . So I think I am optimistic . I think we work with people who care about people .”
Joedrecka Brown Speights , chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health
These interviews were conducted a number of ways – in person , on the telephone , and by email . Read more of what these students , alumni and faculty had to say at med . fsu . edu / FSUMED2020 .
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