Wednesday, May 26, 2021

The impact of Systemic Racism on Public Health: COVID-19 and Communites of Color

Last Friday, my team and I were privileged to give a talk about systemic racism and its impact on communities of color during COVID-19. The talk was based on a manuscript that we submitted to the Nevada Journal of Public Health. It’s important to have this discussion because contrary to popular belief, the legacy of racism is still very much alive in many of the policies that were (and sometimes still are) put into effect by governmental entities. For example, when you look at ‘redlining’, which was an official US federal government policy that encouraged the disinvestment in and disenfranchisement of Black and Latinx communities until 1964, we can see how this officially codified policy influences health in these communities today. Redlined communities frequently are food deserts, have higher rates of all chronic diseases, have poorer schools, less investment by business, lack healthcare, and frequently face a higher burden of environmental threats such as the urban heat island effect. COVID-19 just magnified and exacerbated the impacts of all of these conditions. America is only going to be as healthy as its weakest communities and in order to achieve optimal health for all, we will have to deal with the legacy of systemic racism. Starts with acknowledging that it exists and having hard conversations about it.

To view the webinar, please click here: HEWS May 21, 2021: The Impact of Systemic Racism on Public Health: COVID-19 and Communities of Color

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Physician shadowing etiquette

Physician shadowing is an important part of the pre-medical education and the quality of your shadowing experience can strengthen your overall application as well as help you decide if a career in medicine is really what you want. When shadowing, you will mainly follow the physician as they engage in their typical daily routine. You’ll get a sense of how they interact with other members of the healthcare team as well as their patients. You’ll see the rewarding and not-so rewarding aspects of medicine and healthcare in general.

It can be difficult to find shadowing opportunities, especially during this age of COVID-19. When I was seeking a physician to shadow, I emailed and/or cold called 300 physicians nationwide. I wasn’t having any luck finding a physician that was local to Chandler, AZ so I decided to think outside of the box and reach out to physicians outside of my local area. I eventually found two family medicine physicians, both located in California, and one pediatrician in Lake Havasu, AZ, who invited me to shadow. I don’t think that it particularly matters what specialty you shadow; most admissions committees want to see that you have some idea of what the day-to-day life of a physician is like. Though physicians may have different specialties and have to deal with different daily stressors, there are certain commonalities that all physicians share and these will be the valuable things to make note of.

When you contact physicians to request a shadowing opportunity, be brief in your email. I always attached a CV and my personal statement with my email. You should be prepared with an unofficial copy of your transcript and/or MCAT scores (if available) as I had one physician ask for these. If the physician says that you can come shadow, make sure that you are dressed business casual, unless you shadow an ED doc or surgeon; they may want you to wear scrubs. Do not wear loud scents or jewelry. Make sure that you are punctual; when I shadowed, my goal was to arrive at the clinic 10-15 minutes early in the event that I had to get a parking pass, visitor guest badge, or complete any paperwork.

Bring a notebook and pen to jot down any interesting observations. Keep track of the day, time, and number of hours as you will need this information later for your primary medical school applications (i.e., AACOMAS, AMCAS, and TMDAS). If you are in the presence of a patient with the doctor, don’t ask questions unless you are invited to, try to stand in such a way that you do not impede the physicians work, and if the patient doesn’t want you to be present, leave. You’ll have a time to ask questions but if things are busy, just be patient. Be respectful to all of the staff that you meet.

When you finish the shadowing opportunity, be sure to thank the physician and office staff. I sent an Edible Arrangement after my shadowing opportunities. Also, be prepared to ask for your letter of recommendation; make sure that you have your personal statement, CV, and instructions as to where the LOR should be sent (i.e., Interfolio, your schools pre-health office, etc.) In terms of the number of hours that would be good, that will depend on the physician, but if you can shadow for five days, 5 to 8 hours daily, that is a decent number. I shadowed one of my physicians for 80 hours over two weeks and the other two, I shadowed 40 hours each over a week each. Make sure you have good contact information for the physician in case you need to reach them again at a later date.

Last thing, make sure that you are aware of HIPAA. This is important; patients have a right to privacy. Do NOT talk about what you see unless it is with the physician that you are shadowing. Don’t take pictures with your cell phone (in fact, put your cell phone away while you are shadowing) and don’t discuss any patient details with anyone. It’s OK to discuss generalities about the experience but please respect the patient’s right to privacy.

Monday, May 24, 2021

So you've been wait-listed. What now?

The end goal for every medical school applicant is to earn a seat in a medical school, preferably one of your preferred medical schools. If you are one of those who falls into this category, congratulations! Unfortunately, the other fates that can await you after interviewing is an outright rejection or you may be placed on a schools waitlist.

Every school handles its waitlist differently. Some have a ranked waitlist while other schools waitlists are unranked. You may be placed on the waitlist for one or more of several reasons. The admissions committee may feel that you have the qualities that would make a successful medical student but perhaps there were stronger applicants in the pool. Medical schools have a limited number of seats and its tough to give a seat to every applicant. You might also have some red flags in your application that warrant additional discussion by the admissions committee. Or, you may simply have applied too late in the cycle and there may only be waitlist positions available.

It’s important to realize that while you may feel like you have no control over being waitlisted, there are things that you can do to potentially increase your odds of having a favorable outcome. You can send a WELL CRAFTED letter of intent/interest to the school that expresses your continued interest in the school. You should also update your application with additional grades, volunteer experiences, publications, etc. You don’t want to bombard the admissions office with these updates however. I would say to update admissions no more than once a month. The admissions folks can be your advocate but if you come off as rude or pushy, this will not bode will for you. On my wife's admissions committee, I have seen the admissions coordinator suggest to the admissions committee, who should be moved up on the ranked waitlist, based on her interactions with applicants. ALWAYS BE POLITE!!!

If the school hosts open house events, virtual or face-to-face, attend these if possible. They show that you are interested in the school. Make sure that you network at these events; collect names, phone numbers, and email addresses of any admissions personel who attend these events. Sometimes who you know is more important than what you know. Make sure to regularly check your email in the event the school sends updates about your waitlist status and promptly communicate back with the school if appropriate. Finally, you just have to be prayerful and patient. Once you have done all that is in your power to let the school know that you are interested, it’s time to wait. While waiting, you can start to plan to reapply by working on any weaknesses in your application. If possible, ask to meet with someone on the admissions staff to see if they would review your application with you. They may be willing to point out areas that need strengthening.

The medical school application process is stress inducing and based on what I have seen with friends who have been waitlisted, it seems that an outright rejection might be better. At least you know where you stand. If you find yourself waitlisted, please try not to internalize any negative feelings. Don’t think of this as a school not being interested in you and don’t be discouraged. Use this time to strengthen yourself and your application and adopt a growth mindset. More than anything realize that a waitlist doesn’t mean that you will not earn a seat in the school. And even if you ultimately do not earn a seat, look at this as an opportunity to come back stronger in the next application season. Whomever is reading this, you are well-able to earn your seat in a medical school. You’ve got this!

UIWSOM tour

Eboni and I drove down to San Antonio to tour UIWSOM. The tour and my interaction with the Director of Admission served to reconfirm that my initial feelings about UIWSOM were correct. I feel very much at home at the school and despite what some have said, the facilities are very nice. The school is housed in the former Brooks Air Force Base. The base used to serve as the USAF physician aerospace medicine training center. UIW purchased the base and thoroughly updated and modernized the facilities and it is now a first class educational facility. There is great technology embedded within each building and there is great technical support in the event that something doesn't work. The facilities are comfortable and there are plenty of resturants, grocery stores, and several gyms in the local area. We were able to rent a home that is maybe five to six miles away from the school. Unfortunately, because of COVID concerns, the tours that are being offered are socially distanced and I wasn't able to speak with any current students (though I have meet with some current students via Zoom) but if you want to see a little of the school, you can click on this virtual tour link. I'm really looking forward to July 26th...

Friday, May 21, 2021

Accomplishments

I didn’t get to walk Friday before last; had a bout w/ kidney stones and the doc thought that I may have had appendicitis. Told me that flying to Missouri would not have been wise. Still, I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I’ll defend my dissertation in June and after that, I’ll start my next adventure as an osteopathic medical student. If you’d told that Black kid who was a freshman at New Caney High School in 1985 that he’d one day have a 12 year career as a university faculty member, finish a PhD at the University of Missouri in almost exactly three years, and earn a seat at a Texas medical school, he’d have laughed at you… At the time, I wasn’t sure that I’d do much more than play football and there were times when I didn’t think that I’d live past 24… #past #present #future #phd

To all of the medical school applicants embarking on the new application cycle...

As we embark on another application season, I want to remind you that your medical school application is your opportunity to show the admissions committee what makes you unique and why you would be a good candidate for a seat at xyz medical school. You want to make the most of this opportunity by expanding upon your experiences and showing, through your words, why medicine is the career that you aspire to. While you are working on your personal statements and primary/secondary applications, you may discover things about yourself that you didn’t know were there and I believe, most people will start to mature in their thinking as a result of the experience. The medical school application and interview process is anxiety-provoking so please, make sure to take care of your spiritual, physical, and emotional selves. And if the application season does not end with the outcome that you want, understand that it is not a reflection of you as a person. The path to medical school is not always straight and for some, you may have to take a detour (or two or three) but the journey is every bit as important as getting to medical school; speaking from experience, I will be a much better medical student and physician because of my journey. Embrace it. I wish you all the best as you move into the 2021-’22 application season and for those of you whom I’ve gotten to know over the last year or two, I’m expecting NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS FOR YOU!!!!

Crazy month

It's been a crazy month. Yesterday, my wife and I had to part with our cat, Sudan, and today, I have to put all of those emotions to the side and focus on this webinar that we are hosting abour racism and health. We've also had several publications to drop and earlier this month, we did a webinar AND a poster session for the National Rural Health Association's Health Equity Conference. Lord, give us strength...

In other news, I was given the go ahead to schedule my dissertation. June 21st at 1400 hours, I will defend my dissertation, titled "Primary Care Provider PrEP Prescribing Practices: Southern United States." If all goes well, I will be a doctor X 1. Keep me in y'alls prayers...

Outside of that, I'm eagerly awaiting the start of medical school. On the 24th, Monday, I'll be visiting UIWSOM. They are holding socially distanced tours of the school. I hope to take a few pictures When I get back, I'll post them.

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Rest in heaven, Sudan

May 18, 2007 - May 20, 2021

Sudan “The Man” Traylor

I’ve been the human of a few cats but there was none like Sudan. Sudan came into me and Eboni’s life during her 30th birthday. I’ll never forget how, when we were at Pet Smart, he chose Eboni by reaching a paw out to her. From that day, he was a constant companion on all of our adventures. Loyal, loving, and kind, Sudan would NEVER let you feel down. He also would never let you not give him attention! During my senior year in undergrad, I was taking organic chemistry 2 and studying for my first MCAT exam. Sudan was really upset that I wasn’t spending much time with him, so he took a double sized poop on my organic chemistry lab notebook! I was livid but he sure got my attention! 🤣 Life is not going to be quite the same without him and its going to take us a minute to get over his absence. Some might think me silly but I hope that there is a place in heaven for our fur babies; I hope that Eboni and I will see him again. Sudan “The Man” Traylor. Gone but never will be forgotten. 💕

"Unmasking Structural Racism in U.S." by Daryl O. Traylor et al.

"Unmasking Structural Racism in U.S." by Daryl O. Traylor, Eboni E. Anderson et al. : The COVID pandemic cast a harsh light on the...