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Pediatrician, advocate praises diversity progress
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by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
Managing diversity in medical education, according to pediatrician and
community health education advocate Denice Cora-Bramble, M.D., can be
compared to growing roses in a desert. Medical educators
and leadership must learn to be patient, persistent and attentive in
order to grow thriving, resilient talent in today’s academic health
care environments, said Cora-Bramble.
She addressed faculty, staff and students as part of the Dean’s
Diversity Colloquium 2010 with the College of Medicine April 20.
Cora-Bramble outlined the problems and challenges with diversity in her
talk, “Diversity in Medical Education: Does it Matter?”. She spoke
about America’s rapidly changing population, that attributes to a
25 percent growth in minorities according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Unfortunately, U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals continue to
make slow progress in increasing minority faculty from underrepresented
ethnic groups including Hispanics, Native Americans and
African-Americans.
She cited that these reasons may be due to challenges in academic or
career advancement, lack of a formal or informal network and no
appropriate role models.
“Dr. Cora-Bramble’s visit at MUSC was inspiring and enlightening for
the students, residents and faculty,” said Deborah Deas, M.D., College
of Medicine senior associate dean of strategic diversity initiatives.
“The group meetings provided a venue for her to share personal
experiences while focusing on the benefits of diversity across the
educational continuum. Some of the unique strategies of integrating
diversity into the medical school curriculum will undoubtedly benefit
the college.”
She praised the efforts achieved through programs and medical school
leadership. Cora-Bramble is senior vice president at Children’s
National Medical Center and the Stephen A. Goldberg Center for
Community Pediatric Health at Children’s National Medical Center in
Washington, D.C.
Friday, May 14, 2010
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