I don’t like starting with bad news, but this month’s update must once again start with an expression of remorse and anger over more needless deaths of young, Black men. Walter Wallace, Jr.’s and Daniel Prude’s deaths in Philadelphia and Rochester are a reminder of how important it is to have people trained in mental health responding to mental health crises. We send ambulances for physical health problems, but police with guns to mental health crises. This can’t continue. Each and every time this happens, reverberations are felt far beyond the families that are directly affected. Everyone who worries about her own life is affected. Everyone who worries about his own children is affected. Everyone who worries about health care, the sanctity of life, and the ideals of equality and justice should be similarly affected. Each and every time this happens, we incrementally add to the chronic daily stress of being Black in America. This racism, among other structural barriers, is one of the reasons for shorter life spans among Black Americans compared to other racial groups. When the police kill one Black man, they incrementally shorten the lives of all Black people in the country. We’re in the business of saving lives and improving health. This is directly relevant to our profession. If you are personally grieving these deaths, know that your colleagues and friends in the Neurology department are with you in that grief.
A few announcements:
Dr. Erica Taylor from Orthopedic Surgery has been named the PDC’s first Associate Chief Medical Officer for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Taylor is the perfect choice for this role and someone who has served as a mentor to me in my D&I work. I’m very pleased that the PDC has recognized the importance of this work by hiring Dr. Taylor. Dr. Taylor will receive protected time and administrative support in order to be successful in this new role. As you might recall, Dr. Taylor participated in our Diversity and Inclusion Grand Round Lecture Series last year on the subject of inclusive leadership.
Our next D&I Grand Rounds Lecture is actually coming up this Wed, Nov. 4. I’m very excited that we will be hosting Dr. Alyx Porter from Mayo Clinic Arizona. Her topic is From Challenges to Opportunity: Addressing Diversity in Medicine. I have heard very good reviews of this talk from others who have heard it, and I’m really looking forward to it. I hope you’ll join in.
Some of you might have attended a grand rounds we did last year on bystander intervention by Duke ombudsperson, Ada Gregory. It’s great training for how to respond if you are witnessing inappropriate behavior and want to intervene. If you missed it, want a refresher, or want to go more in depth, you can catch a more comprehensive training session on Tuesday, December 1 from 9-11 AM. You can register here: https://dukefacdev.wufoo.com/forms/m15yadpx1rrf6s6/
From the announcement, the session will cover:
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Model bystander interventions to interrupt harmful remarks or actions in the moment or after it occurs
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Effectively respond to individuals who are targets of harassment, callous behavior or insensitive remarks
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Initiate a restorative conversation with parties who have engaged in behaviors that have caused harm to others
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Implement proactive strategies to create a culture where harassment and bias incidents are less likely to occur or re-occur
In honor of yesterday being World Stroke Day, I attached a copy of this article from JAMA (August 2020) entitled Stroking Out While Black. It’s only 2 pages and well worth your time to read as it covers how stroke disparities are related to structural racism.
Reminders:
The Duke Neurology Suggestion Box is available for anyone to use, and you can remain anonymous. Please share with us any good news that you want to make the department aware of or any concerns you have related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Will Alexander has worked very hard to put together a Duke Neurology Diversity and Inclusion website. It contains the results of our past several years of work. Please check it out.
In closing, although lately these update emails have taken on a very heavy preponderance of topics related to racism, D&I work is about more than just race. We want our department to be inclusive of all people, which includes sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, political affiliation, marital status, parental status, veteran status, and more. If you have any topics you would like me to cover in subsequent emails, please feel free to email them to me or put them in the anonymous online suggestion box (link above).
Stay safe,
Andrew