Pioneering US medic Dr Lynn Holden tells Aoife Connors about her novel project to open up entry to medicine to the socially disadvantaged
Ireland could benefit from replicating an innovative American programme aimed at broadening opportunities to enter medical school, a leading US doctor has suggested.
‘Mentoring in Medicine’ is a novel US project that inspires young people from less-affluent communities in the States to enter medical school. The programme is successfully run in California, Atlanta and New York.
On a recent visit to Ireland, Dr Lynn Holden, President and Executive Director of the non-profit organisation ‘Mentoring in Medicine’, told IMT that Ireland could benefit by establishing something akin to the Bronx mentoring project and she would be delighted to help facilitate such a programme here.
She said the mentoring model gave students unique opportunities to pursue medicine that otherwise would never have been given to them. The project links students as young as seven years old with a professional working in a medical career in which they aspire to work.
The professional acts as a ‘medical mentor’ for the student throughout their study, often right through until the student reaches their final medical exams. There are no limits to who can take part in the programme, explained Dr Holden. “We take all comers. If you’ve a desire, we’ll work with you and expose you to the career path,” the Bronx doctor said.
Mentoring in Medicine
She told IMT that the mission of ‘Mentoring in Medicine’ was two-fold: to teach African-American children healthy living habits, and to introduce students to science and health professions. “The organisation does this in a variety of ways – with multi-sensory curriculum. We work with students from third grade right through to [medical] school, whether that be nursing, medical or pharmacy. The programme focuses on three areas: academic enrichment, leadership development and community service.”
While the programme has achieved much, the numbers are still an issue, Dr Holden acknowledged. “In 1919, 6 per cent of physicians in the US were African-American and today the figure remains the same.” Yet she believes that the longitudinal effect of the mentoring programme is that people from various socioeconomic and diverse backgrounds are given knowledge about healthy living and the opportunity to enter healthcare professions they never thought possible.
“When we talk about diversity, it covers many different aspects of life. But the most important thing we are striving for is to help those people living in areas where they might not be exposed to healthy living, where health literacy is poor and access to third-level education is limited.”
Students can choose to become attached to any one of more than 200 healthcare professions signed up to the scheme. As health professionals are very ‘time compressed’, the period spent with students is done in a very organised fashion, Dr Holden explained.
Each year the organisation holds a conference called ‘Yes, I can be a healthcare professional’. “The healthcare professionals come in for four-to-six hours and spend time with students talking about a particular subject, e.g. podiatrists will show the students a diagram of the foot and some instruments they use in the operating room. They may demonstrate some problems like taking care of bunions,” Dr Holden said.
Funding for the mentoring programme comes predominantly from philanthropic sources and various grants. Currently, Dr Holden has two continuously funded programmes: a high school programme in six New York schools funded by the National Library of Medicine and the friends of the Library; and a community ambassador programme funded by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.
A lot of income support comes from academic institutions, including Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, which funds research grants and student scholarships. Dr Holden said: “A lot of students are not aware of the various grants and funding opportunities available to them, apart from taking out a loan or paying out of their pocket.” The ‘Mentoring in Medicine’ programme creates financial awareness amongst the students, so they can realise the different ways available to fund their education.
Dr Holden added that they like their students to practise in their own communities what is taught to them. “We spread messages for healthy living, because if the young people are interested in their mental health, it becomes their social responsibility, and they promote positive health to others.”
In an effort to target health literacy during the H1N1 pandemic last year, Dr Holden and her team downloaded information from the internet and the New York Department of Health, and recruited 150 college and high school volunteers to distribute the latest H1N1 health information to families, parents and the elderly throughout the city who did not have internet access.
“Every night, we had a conference call on what was coming out about HIN1 from the official websites. We downloaded and distributed the information in English and Spanish. We had students at subway stations during rush hour, handing out flyers with the latest information coming through the internet.” This, she said, helped to increase public knowledge of the pandemic. She believes something similar could be rolled out in parts of Ireland, particularly in areas where there is huge diversity within the local community.
Obama’s reforms
As a doctor in a busy emergency department (ED), Dr Holden believes President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act 2010 will certainly have an impact on the health system in the US and be “something very beneficial”. “Traditionally in the States, the EDs have been overcrowded — a situation called gridlock,” she stated. “I think Obama’s health reform bill will help alleviate some of the issues we’re seeing with overcrowding.
“The ED has traditionally been used as a first point of entry because of the lack of primary care physicians in the States. Patients may have to wait two-to-six weeks to see their physician, so they come to the ED because it’s open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and they won’t be refused.” She is hoping the healthcare reform will provide more support in primary care, so that more preventive treatments can be put in place for patients and “we can pick things up earlier — prevent, rather than cure”.
Dr Holden’s main role in the mentoring project is to provide leadership for the team and students, and also to recruit volunteers and facilitate programme development. The Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine travelled to Ireland recently with her teenage daughter to address the annual Albert Schweitzer Leadership for Life International Youth Conference, organised by Foróige, the youth development organisation, in partnership with the Irish Chamber of Commerce USA Foundation. Speaking to a group of teens is challenging, Dr Holden informs IMT, as one has to be engaging and exciting.
“I wanted to grab their attention and inspire the young people to be leaders,” she said. Over 250 teenagers from North Korea, Nigeria, the US and Europe attended the week-long event, which enables young people to develop the skills, inspiration and confidence required to be an effective leader in their community. Dr Holden believes there is great potential in the Irish youth: “The possibilities to develop medical mentoring programmes here are endless.”
She told the group of potential future medics about the four keys to leadership and success, which she said helped her in her own life. “The first was ‘faith’ – both spiritual faith and belief in one’s cause. Second is ‘focus’ — practising the power of visualisation, where you want to be in the future, and keeping that goal in mind. Third is to ‘follow through’ – being able to continue if something doesn’t turn out the way you want it to and having the strength to brush yourself down and keep moving. The final key is ‘fired up’ – being passionate about your cause. If you don’t have the passion and you are not feeling good about it, then you won’t succeed.”
While spending a few days in Dublin, Dr Holden reflected on comparisons she saw between Ireland and the States, which were not always positive. “Walking through Dublin, I see the homelessness here like we have in the States, and I know the impact it has on people. Often when people come to our ED, it is not because of a medical problem but rather it may be the only place to go because they literally have no home to go to.”
Yet it was the friendliness of the Irish that struck her the most. “I’m never lost because there is always someone to give me directions.” And with that, I pointed her in the right direction.
About admin
Loading ...
