这是两个月内第二次， 十大菠菜台子威廉博蒙特医学院 学生们在久负盛名的学校写了一封信 学术医学杂志 ——这一次把注意力吸引到一个“行动呼吁”计划上.

The call to action efforts were led by second-year medical students 阿比Salahou and Dalia Rahmon. The two —along with fourth-year medical student Michelle Fedorowicz — also wrote the letter to the editor in 学习医学. The headline is "医疗 学生 Confront Racism and Systemic Oppression Amidst a Global Pandemic."

The 13-page call to action is described as 这是一项强调改进我们课程的机会的努力” and outlines eight core action items for OUWB to address. 这些项目包括课程改革, 为开放大学的少数族裔医科学生提供更有力的支持, 以及反种族主义研讨会的实施.

The document was created last summer in conjunction with students at other medical schools drafting similar documents, prompted in large part by events in 2020 that led to what many have generally described as a racial awakening.

"I am very proud and thankful for our students in generating this call to action document,牛津大学斯蒂芬·夏普院长杜安·梅兹瓦说, M.D.

“The results of this endeavor have led to great improvement in our curriculum and opened a willingness to extend dialogue across many fronts.”

给编辑的信 学习医学 confirms that OUWB leadership has worked diligently to address the concerns in the call to action.

“自从我们发布了行动呼吁文件, our institution’s administration has been receptive to implementing the proposed action items, we have witnessed an overall increase in discussions at our institution surrounding inequality,信中写道.

受他人启发

In 2020, 阿莫德·阿贝里之死, Breonna泰勒, 和乔治·弗洛伊德在2月23日至5月25日之间进行.

在这些事件之后, an estimated 23 million-plus participated in anti-police-brutality protests, 这有可能成为美国历史上规模最大的抗议运动, 根据 大西洋.

抗议的精神并不局限于街头.

“The news and what was going on really brought everyone’s attention toward issues of systemic racism, 特别是对于那些可能不知道或感觉不到它的程度的人,拉赫蒙说.

Salahou, Rahmon, others at OUWB became aware that students at medical schools across the country were channeling much of their frustrations and emotions into initiatives similar to what would become the call to action at OUWB.

“医疗 students across the country began drafting ‘call to action’ documents urging their institutions to reassess their medical curriculum and the ways in which the medical community has failed marginalized patient populations,这封信发表在《十大菠菜软件》杂志上.

Salahou said she and others “brainstormed whether it would be useful to have a similar initiative at OUWB.” Rahmon said she and the OUWB students became more motivated when they saw students from other schools posting their respective calls to action on social media.

“We did get some inspiration for how they structured their letters and some of the topics they brought up,”她说。. “我们确实受到了他们的启发.”

The team behind OUWB’s call to action eventually reached out to all OUWB students for input.

该行动呼吁于7月9日提交给OUWB管理层, 近200名在校学生和校友签名.

整体, the plan urges OUWB to adjust its curriculum accordingly and with regard to offering a more robust and inclusive curriculum.

例如, one point calls for OUWB’s cardiology course material to “be more inclusive and representative of Black, 亚洲, 少数民族患者.”

“As medical students who will one day serve an ever-diversifying patient population, we emphasize that our course material must reflect contemporary race issues and increased efforts need to be made to ensure that minority populations are represented in our medical school curriculum,信中写道 学习医学.

“一个更好的外部社区”

Salahou admits she wasn’t sure how the call to action would be received by OUWB officials, but said she needed a way to channel her frustrations and emotions that were particularly strong in the spring and early summer.

她对最初的接待很满意.

“I was really happy to see that so many students as well as faculty and staff really vocalize their support of the letter, 并且确实证实了这样一个倡议的必要性,”她说。.

响应行动的号召, OUWB立即成立了一个课程工作组和一个特设委员会.

整体, recommendations centered on possible solutions and recommendations (which were shared with the students) to points in the call to action.

The students also formed a task force to ensure recommendations resulting from the call to action stay on track.

Salahou said she has already seen changes implemented as a result of the call to action.

“这真的向我说明了医科学生, 从M1年开始, do have the capacity to make changes in medicine that ultimately impact patient care,萨拉霍说. “That advocacy role we take on doesn’t have to wait until we’re officially MDs.”

Rahmon said it “was really inspiring to see so many students across so many years come together.”

“这个过程本身真的很有意义，也激励着我，”她说. “如果我将来看到类似的东西，我想解决, 我一定会继续做下去.”

梅兹瓦赞扬了学生们的努力.

“I believe we are a far better OUWB community because of the leadership and initiative of this group of students,Mezwa补充道.

“It is through efforts like this that we will continue to produce the special type of physicians and leaders that graduate from our school.”

欲了解更多信息，请联系Andrew Dietderich，营销作家，OUWB，在 (电子邮件保护). 

如需采访，请访问OUWB通讯 & 市场营销 网页.

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