Five Personal Truths

Faculty members sound off on 'today's challenge'

The second annual Celebration of Diversity featured presentations and discussions from faculty, alumni, students and friends of the UF College of Medicine on issues of equity and inclusion in health care. Former Dean Michael L. Good, MD, explained the purpose behind the annual Celebration of Diversity: to “renew our commitment to diversity and inclusion and to cultivate a physician and health professions workforce that resembles the makeup of our local, state and national communities.” The week kicked off April 2 with a dean’s grand rounds panel discussion, bringing together five faculty members in talks about “Today’s Challenge: Building and Sustaining a Culture of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.” On the following pages are some thoughts from UF faculty members on the progress made and the work remaining to be done at the UF College of Medicine.

Carolyn Holland, MD

When Holland, a UF emergency medicine physician, applied to medical school, she identified as an openly gay woman. However, she says, there was no education about medical issues facing the LGBTQ community when she was a medical student.

“While it’s better, there is still a lack of understanding among medical professionals about the LGBTQ community. The best part of my job in emergency medicine is that, no matter who walks in, I treat all my patients with respect and dignity. And I teach my residents to do the same.”

Mavis Agbandje-McKenna, PhD

Agbandje-McKenna was 11 years old when she left Nigeria and moved to England. She is a professor and director of the Center for Structural Biology and engineered a gene therapy vector that treats Duchenne muscular dystrophy in children.

“I was mentored by mostly white men, but when I went to conferences, I would seek out the one African-American research scientist there to speak with or just to sit next to and listen to. I needed to know I also could become a faculty member one day. You need to be able to see yourself in the role you want.”

Mustafa Ahmed, MD

Ahmed, a UF cardiologist who specializes in advanced heart failure, examines health care disparities among underserved individuals and founded the Relief & Assistance for Humanity by Muslim Americans, or RAHMA, Mercy Clinic in Gainesville.

“It’s important to create a forum for deliberate discomfort when talking about health disparities and equity. If we become complacent with the progress we see, we defeat the purpose, which is to remain connected to the community we serve.”

Stephanie Ryan, MD ’02

Ryan, an assistant professor in the UF department of pediatrics, didn’t adhere to all of the advice she was given when applying to the UF College of Medicine. Today, she uses her own experiences to create a curriculum that helps break the stereotypes associated with LGBTQ patients.

“As a gay Hispanic female medical student at UF, I was advised not to let my background and identity be known. But I didn’t take that advice. Instead I have found that my personal experiences and heritage do more to help create therapeutic relationships with patients.”

Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD

Mitchell is a UF professor of neurosurgery, director of the Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy and a world leader in advancing the use of immunotherapy to treat malignant brain tumors.

“I was told by an admissions officer — in front of my classmates — that I wouldn’t get into the program I was working toward. Before this, I had direct models of inspiration and success in my parents, but after, I realized that people aren’t always going to be supportive of me and my passions. It’s been a mix of profoundly positive and profoundly negative experiences that have shaped my life and career.”