CLUBS AND ORGS MIND THE GAP
EDAC’s challenge did not fall flat. In fact, C&O leaders were fired up and immediately started planning how to apply a social justice lens to this year’s programming. In September, the Student Physicians for Social Responsibility (SPSR) invited alumnus, Thomas Groblewski, DO ‘95, Medical Director of New Hampshire Correctional Facilities, for the talk, “Care for Justice-Involved Patients” to discuss caring for justice-involved patients and medical care in the prison system, and to touch upon the impact of COVID to this at-risk population. Earlier this month, the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) joined an intra-regional event between other regional medical schools to host a Zoom discussion with Student Doctor Malone Mukwende, author of Mind the Gap: A handbook of clinical signs in Black and Brown skin.
Following the discussion with Student Doctor Mukwende, SOMA’s president, Emily Cathey, COM ’23, reflects on the importance of the event, for this moment in time, during COVID. This moment, an intersection of past/present moments colliding and riffing off one another, joining together as a chorus- breaking the silence. As Audre Lorde writes, “The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.”
Innovation in Medical Education Meet the Moment at UNE COM
UNE COM has gained national recognition in the past for being ahead of the medical education curve by fully integrating its curriculum several years before other medical schools. UNE COM’s innovation has always come from its faculty, with support from leadership, and often these initiatives are sparked by instincts and interests of our students. In late 2019, NPR produced a story about the differing appearance of common rashes on black and brown skin contributing to misdiagnosis and delayed care.