Medical Student Contributing Writer
Case Western Reserve University
Afua Ofori-Darko is a first-year medical student at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Community Health. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, exploring new restaurants and playing tennis.
In this piece, Afua Ofori-Darko discusses how medical education has focused on tokenism on a way to achieve diversity. Specifically, Afua discusses her journey as the token Black girl and how tokenism harms URiM students and the institutions to which they belong.
Henry Zou, an Asian American fourth-year medical student, reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and finds courage and hope.
Medical student Rebekah Russell reflects on her experience with the healthcare system during a miscarriage.
Medical student Sara Phillips writes a personal reflection, grounded in scholarly literature, that details her exploration of racism as a mechanism for perpetuating disparities in maternal health outcomes. The piece traces discriminatory policies and actions undertaken by physicians and leaders in the field of obstetrics and gynecology to portray a historical origin for contemporary health inequities. Interacting with these grim stories and statistics, she reflects on what it means for her to seek out a career in OB/GYN to confront this prejudicial history and create a more just path forward.
Medical student Navjot Singh teaches us how to surmount racism with composure, grace, and courage.
Medical student Micaela Mcgregor gives profound advice to other future black doctors who will one day represent only 4% of practicing American physicians.
The year 2020 has already redefined the social landscape through a pandemic and massive progressive social movements. Mosaic in Medicine’s mission and purpose rings as true as when it was started, bolstered by a renewed vigor.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Albany Medical College
A current Internal Medicine/Pediatrics resident at Stony Brook University Hospital. I was born and raised in Southern California. Being a 1st generation Mexican-American and a 1st generation medical student has provided me the opportunity to be thrusted into the culture of medicine but also left me feeling like an outsider. I believe Mosaic in Medicine has the potential to expand and strengthen medical culture and education by illuminating the stories, adversities and passions that encompass experiences that stretch far beyond race or creed. I want Mosaic in Medicine to be a platform in which we can relate to, inspire, and educate one another by showing that no one is truly an outsider in the medical community; we are all just pieces of different shapes and colors that add to the same whole.
