Critical to understanding how to support Black students along their journeys to careers in SEM, the workshop’s first panel was formed to capture the lived experiences and thoughts from students in different settings. These settings include not just students entering the health professions but also students who belong to other graduate school backgrounds and fields. For example, student voices from academic research in biomedical sciences were included, and a student on the panel now works as an engineer outside the medical and research fields. Lamont Terrell, Ph.D. (GlaxoSmithKline) moderated a session in which six students and recent graduates have shared what has worked and what is needed to thrive in SEM. The participants were Afua Awuah (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), Gordon Edwards (formerly at the City College of New York), Favour Nerrise (Stanford University), Abdoul Madjid Kone (Howard University School of Medicine), Andrew “Niyi” Owolabi (Tesla), and Sabrena Myers (Duke University Medical School).1
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Afua Awuah began by sharing her pathway into medicine. She was always interested in science and became interested in medicine when she saw how a family physician helped her and her family when her father had health struggles. She said she relied on programs in the community, at school, and at a local hospital to be exposed to Black health professionals. “I had a big goal, even though I was aware of the disadvantages,” she commented. She did her own research at the library and took advantage of networking and mentoring programs that included Futures and Options, which offers paid internships, and Camp GOALS (Greater Opportunities Advancing Leadership and Science) for Girls.2 She has served as a mentor to high school stu-
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1 Since the May 2022 workshop, some of the student or early-career panelists have changed institutions or have new titles. These have been indicated throughout the chapter.
2 For more information on Futures and Options, see https://www.futuresandoptions.org/fao/what_we_do/internship_program/.
dents and is involved with Mentoring in Medicine, Inc. (MIM); conducts cancer research; and volunteers with Pathway to Purpose and the COVID-19 Community Education and Empowerment Internship Program.
In thinking about her journey, Awuah said she always has felt supported by the community and made sure she immersed herself in programs to give her support and confidence.
POSTBACCALAUREATE PROGRAM ON THE WAY TO MEDICAL SCHOOL
Gordon Edwards also grew up in New York but has taken a different route to medicine. When he attended American University in Washington, D.C., he was interested in premed but had no advising on how or what to do. He started thinking about public health and was accepted into the Lewis Scholars’ Imhotep Project at Morehouse College as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program.3 He was partnered with a mentor at the CDC. In 2021, when he became a COVID-19 contact tracer, he saw the challenge in helping community members with evidence-based information, and this reinforced that medicine is something he should consider. During the workshop, Mr. Edwards was an accelerated postbac student at City College of New York; he now serves with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
He said staying in touch with his Imhotep cohort and mentor has helped to have a “community that looks like me, helps me, and gives me support.” He also noted that his church community has provided financial, spiritual, and emotional support. “What was lacking was early premed mentoring and being in a community that was aware and knowledgeable of what would be helpful for success,” he said. He only recently became aware of MIM, something he “wished he knew about sooner.” Yet, he said, the long journey has also been valuable.
MENTORING IN MEDICINE
Abdoul Madjid Kone similarly has had a long journey to where he is now: about to become a resident in emergency medicine at Baylor College
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3 See https://morehouse.edu/academics/centers-and-institutes/public-health-sciences-institute/project-imhotep/.
of Medicine. He related that he was born and raised in the Ivory Coast, where he attended a military middle and high school. He entered a national competition to get a military higher education outside of the country. Then he was notified that he was eligible for a U.S. Green Card. His family and many others provided the money to finance his trip.
Mr. Kone arrived in New York City in 2013, alone, without knowing English. He took ESL (English as a Second Language) classes and jobs to pay off loans and support his family in the Ivory Coast. “It was trial and error, with no one to guide me, but I knew I wanted to go to medical school,” he said. He worked as a pharmacy technician, drove a cab (which he still does), and started to take community college classes. The premed office was not very encouraging, but he discovered MIM. Calling it a blessing, Dr. Kone said he took advantage of every program MIM offered, including an MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) preparation course and travel to conferences. He was offered an interview at Howard University School of Medicine, where he is now. Through Howard, he has found ways to give back, including with the organization Black Men in White Coats.4
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS AS AN ANCHOR
Favour Nerrise related her experiences as an electrical engineering Ph.D. student at Stanford University and national chairperson of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Ms. Nerrise earned a B.S. in computer engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, with minors in Arabic and global engineering leadership. At Stanford, she has held Stanford Graduate, EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education), and NeuroTech Training Program fellowships. She considers NSBE, which she first joined as a child in the junior part of the organization, as her most important anchor.5
Ms. Nerrise was born and raised in Cameroon until age 10 and came to the United States without knowing English. She considers this as part of her resilience. She participated in gifted and talented programs, summer programs, and competitions like science fairs and robotics. She noted that these programs can make the difference for Black and Brown students to attend more rigorous high schools. She related that she entered college planning
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4 For more information, see https://www.blackmeninwhitecoats.org/.
5 Ms. Nerrise discussed NSBE further in the panel on professional societies (see Chapter 5). See also https://www.nsbe.org/.
to go to medical school. She was always interested in technology, and an advisor suggested she take more in-depth computer engineering and math classes. She said her research in neuroengineering and neurotechnology combines her interests in medicine and technology. Accessing internships, co-op programs, and competitions, she observed, “Visibility helps, I was very intentional.” She has been involved, in addition to NSBE, with several organizations, including the Society of Women Engineers, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, but she considers NSBE and, more broadly, the Black engineering community, as her cornerstone. Fellowships, faith, family and friends, and mentors have helped her. As a specific example of how community support can help, the application and fees assistance were critical.
LEVERAGING RELATIONSHIPS
Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Andrew “Niyi” Owolabi enjoyed woodworking as a hobby, which led him to engineering. As a student at Olin College, he started an NSBE chapter. In doing so, he received support from the administration and faculty. Among other advantages, forming a chapter led to funding to attend conferences and other institutional change.
Mr. Owolabi worked in his school’s information technology department and had internships in the summers. Most were the result of a connection to someone in a company who could put him in contact with someone else, leading him to recognize that “relationships are important.” Similarly, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work with a start-up, then connected with team members at Tesla, his current place of employment.
OUTREACH PROGRAMS WHEN SCHOOLS UNDERPERFORM
Sabrena Myers, a student at Duke University School of Medicine and currently a TL1 Scholar at the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute predoctoral program, took an extra year to earn a clinical research master’s degree in health disparities and is applying for OB/GYN (obstetrics/gynecology) residencies. She has been involved with recruitment, retention, and support of underrepresented students and faculty. Ms. Myers said she became interested in medicine because of the experience of a cousin with sickle cell disease. Taking advantage of outreach programs solidified her interest and guided her choices. She said she attended an underperforming
high school where safety was a more pressing issue than academic rigor, and where few students went on to 4-year colleges.
In secondary school, the most critical outreach program was the State Pre-College Enrichment Program (S-PREP) at Columbia University; she also participated in Upward Bound at Fordham University; College Now at Lehman College; and college tours, SAT prep classes, and college counseling offered at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center.6 Like others on the panel, she valued hearing speakers who look like her sharing how they have overcome barriers in their lives.
In college, she took advantage of many programs, most notably the Binghamton University Educational Opportunity Program at State University of New York. She came the summer before her first year for coursework and to join a cohort for the next 4 years. A stipend for books and other expenses was essential, as was social and financial support from the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program, Northeast Regional Alliance (NERA) MedPrep, New York Needs You, and Mentoring in Medicine.7 She said all these programs taught her about paying forward and giving back to community. At Duke, she served as a codirector for a program like the S-PREP she was exposed to in high school. Her direction of this program came from a realization of the difference these programs have made in her life.
DISCUSSION
In a short discussion, the presenters were asked about the role of math in their journey and what precollege teachers can do to prepare students for math. Mr. Owolabi suggested finding ways to make math concrete, such as looking at football statistics or other ways to engage students. Mr. Edwards remembered when a calculus teacher admitted he sometimes makes math mistakes; that humility is important to feeling free to learn math and
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6 For information on these programs under their current offerings, see https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/education/academic-programs/additional-educational-opportunities/summer-youth-programs/middle-high-school-students/state-pre-college-enrichment-program-s-prep; https://www.fordham.edu/info/20973/trio_programs; and https://www.lehman.edu/college-now/.
7 For information on these programs, see https://www.binghamton.edu/programs/eop/index.html; https://explorehealthcareers.org/enrichment/summer-medical-and-dental-education-program-smdep-5/; http://www.neramedprep.org/; https://www.nycservice.org/organizations/index.php?org_id=1443; and https://medicalmentor.org/.
make mistakes without feeling unintelligent. Ms. Nerrise noted that many students have a fear of math. Early introduction with everyday lessons like those in the kitchen can dispel the fear, and it is also important to train teachers not to present math as something scary. Ms. Awuah suggested giving students ways to do math outside of class, since “the more you practice, the better you get.”
Workshop co-chair Lynne Holden, M.D., reflected on some of the messages from the students, such as the lack of familiarity that many of their parents had about SEM, the need to piece together financial resources from a variety of programs and groups, and the quest for continuous knowledge to learn and do more. They found a range of summer, weekend, and after-school programs that provided challenging and rigorous content, as well as support among like-minded communities. She also observed that all are paying it forward by helping younger students and serving the community.
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