@RFentonMD: One topic I’m passionate about is understanding and dismantling systemic racism in education. Higher education can be a life-changing experience and yet the opportunities to achieve it are challenged even at early ages. #Sharethemicnowmed

Only 5% of physicians are Black and Black people are 13% of the US population. Many professions have similarly low numbers. That difference is not just a disparity, but an inequity. There is an injustice in our country about who gets access to education-RF https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/interactive-data/figure-18-percentage-all-active-physicians-race/ethnicity-2018

Many say, “system is broken”, but systems, including medical education, were designed this way. As Dr. Berwick puts it, “every system is designed to give the results you actually get.” It is no accident that the 1st Black woman physician came 15 YEARS after the 1st white woman-RF

Becoming a doctor is HARD, and even harder for Black & Brown people. The list below summarizes some disadvantages these students face. Its feels like running hurdles when your non-POC peers are running on flat ground. Their increased success is the result of an unfair race -RF

My hope is that the rhetoric now around systemic racism allows everyone to look deeply within their own lives and institutions to see where there are inequities and seek out ways to change it. Systems are created, therefore they can also be torn down. -RF