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Posts tagged as “black female doctors”

Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris Pioneers Way to Treat Stress in Children, a Startling Source of Future Disease

Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician in San Francisco, is advocating for all children to be screened for traumatic experiences, which, research shows, have a long-term impact on health. She is a Heinz Award winner  (Photo by Jason Henry)

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Soon after Nadine Burke Harris opened a pediatrics clinic in a low-income neighborhood in San Francisco, she began grappling with the high rates of asthma and other illnesses that she was diagnosing in her patients. She wanted to understand why so many of the kids she saw were so sick.
“They would have chronic abdominal pain, headaches, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, opposition defiant disorder,” she said. “It could be that all these different kids have all these diagnoses, or it could be that there is one thing at the root of this.”
She found an answer in a decade-old study that showed a strong link between chronic disease and traumatic experiences during childhood — things such as physical abuse or neglect, or living with a family member addicted to drugs or alcohol. She knew the children she saw lived with high “doses” of adversity, she said, and it made sense: Trauma was affecting their developing brains and also their developing bodies.
So she began to regard her practice in a whole new way. She started evaluating children not just for their medical histories, but also their social histories. And instead of treating only symptoms, she sought to help with the root causes of the stress that were making them sick.
She screened all the children at her clinic for traumatic experiences, and she built a new kind of medical center for those who screened positive. At the Center for Youth Wellness, which opened in 2011, children and their parents can see mental health workers, learn about mindfulness and other relaxation techniques, and meet with case managers who connect them with social services.
Harris’ novel approach to health care, and her personal story, are gaining national attention. Her work has been profiled in a best-selling book by Paul Tough and a documentary film. Her health center has attracted major funders, including Google.org.
Last month, she spoke at the White House for a conference about trauma. And this week, she was honored in Pittsburgh with the Heinz Award for the Human Condition, one of six prizes given annually by the Heinz Foundation to “exceptional Americans, for their creativity and determination in finding solutions to critical issues.” The award comes with a $250,000 prize.
“I think we have reached a tipping point,” Harris said in an interview.
The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2014 announced the launch of a Center on Healthy, Resilient Children to help pediatricians identify children with toxic stress and help intervene. Local chapters are training pediatricians.
A screening tool for childhood trauma on the center’s website has been downloaded 1,100 times. Harris’s goal is for every pediatrician to screen children for trauma.

"Black Women in Medicine" Documentary to Screen at Yale on Tuesday 4/26

Black Women in Medicine (photo via changingthefaceofmedicine.org)
Black Women in Medicine (photo via changingthefaceofmedicine.org)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

New Haven, Conn.—A screening of the documentary film “Black Women in Medicine” by producer/director Crystal Emery will take place on Tuesday, April 26 at 4 p.m. at the Yale School of Medicine’s Anlyan Center (TAC), Rm. N107, 300 Cedar St.

“Black Women in Medicine” chronicles the unsung journeys of black women doctors who have risen above inequality to excellence while becoming leaders in their fields.

The event will feature a reception and book signing for “Against all Odds: Celebrating Black Women in Medicine.” Yale School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, and Yale School of Medicine Professor and Interim Chair of Internal Medicine Gary Desir, will deliver opening remarks. Registration is encouraged.

Click through below to see the trailer on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/153400553
The event is an initiative of URU The Right to Be Inc., in collaboration with The Minority Organization for Retention & Expansion (MORE), the Committee on the Status of Women in Medicine (SWIM), the Office of Women in Medicine, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Guests can attend one of two breakout workshops, titled “Changing the Face of Medicine: From Conversation to Action” and “Retention and Recruitment.”

Morehouse School of Medicine Names Valerie Montgomery Rice Its Next President

Valerie Montgomery RiceValerie Montgomery Rice was named the next president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She will take office upon the retirement of John E. Maupin Jr. on July 1, 2014. Since 2011, Dr. Montgomery Rice has served as executive vice president and dean at Morehouse. Previously, she was a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.

Dr. Rice will continue to serve as dean, or chief academic officer, when she becomes president of the Morehouse School of Medicine. “I consider it an honor that our board is entrusting me with the responsibility of continuing to build on the legacy of this pre-eminent institution,” said Dr. Montgomery Rice. “The vision is crystal clear. My role is to continue to further the mission while also positioning the school to remain relevant and at the forefront of an ever-changing medical education environment.”

A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Montgomery Rice received her medical training at Harvard Medical School.

article via jbhe.com