The 41st annual Association of Black Women Physicians’ event, themed“ Regal and Revolutionary: 40 Years of Boldly Advocating for Health Equity and Justice,” featured speakers as varied as the Hon. Maxine Waters and actorcomedian Chris Tucker. Distinguished award winners Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee for Lifetime Achievement, and Dr. Jerry Abraham, Humanitarian of the Year, were celebrated in the manner that previous high achieving medical professionals have been feted.

From the opening pre-event audio / visual montage teasing the events to come, to the closing appeal for financial support from the audience, a high bar was set for subsequent virtually broadcast charitable events. The occasion was a subtle history lesson, MC’ ed by actress-air personality Tammi Mac. Vocalist Nip Renee followed up her appearance at A Taste of Soul with a powerful song of self-empowerment during the entertainment segment of the gala.

But the most compelling part of this event were the messages delivered by organization leaders themselves. They were the real stars of the show, offering a variety of testimonials to the importance of training and developing young African Americans as physicians. They decried the tragedy of the difficulty in eradicating healthcare disparities experienced by Black and Brown people, as well as the chronic shortage of physicians of color working in urban communities. Black physicians are underrepresented in the medical profession, constituting approximately 5 % of the nationwide total, a number unchanged for over five decades.

These pioneering physicians wore their passion about the need to eradicate health care disparities on their collective sleeves. They celebrated the women who came together to found and sustain the organization, many of whom were on hand as living witnesses.

Featured were scholarship presentations to a dozen young Black women at various stages of education at five medical programs.

The medical students received a dozen scholarships, at $ 5,000 each, according to ABWP Treasurer and scholarship Chair, Dr. La Tanya Hines, herself a prior excipient. Five students attending USC’ s Keck School of Medicine received awards, four enrolled at the joint CDU / UCLA program, and one scholarship each to students attending UC Riverside, the University of Pittsburgh, and Western University.

One of ABWP’ s strengths on display was the organization’ s ability to attract significant sponsor support from a variety of well-established enterprises. Support for this event was drawn primarily from within the health care profession. SCANS Health Plan, a multistate entity, was Platinum sponsor. Gold sponsors included the California Wellness Foundation, Anthem, and David Griffin and Dr. Gerianne Dudley.

Silver sponsors included the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Molina Healthcare, Optum, and Jessie L. Sherrod, MD; McPherson and Sway, and the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. Blue Shield, Cedars-Sinai, Children’ s Hospital of Los Angeles, and Kaiser Permanente-West Los Angeles were Bronze sponsors. There were also a wide variety of sponsors acknowledged during the virtual slide presentation.

In her opening remarks, incoming President-elect and Charity Benefit Chair Dr. Renee Poole thanked the attendees, celebrated the founders, and congratulated the honorees and scholarship recipients. She also thanked Splendid Affairs and First Option Entertainment for the professionalness of the show’ s production.

ABWP’ s strategic collaborations were also cited. Various video clips saluted the organization’ s ability to forge partnerships designed to heighten awareness of the need to eradicate health care disparities while leveling the playing field for Black and Brown persons with limited access to health care professionals and resources. Amongst its most recent partnerships, ABWP

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Sharpest Scalpel Volume 3, Number 3 | Page 31

ABWP Sets the Standard for Virtual Charitable Events with its 41st Gala