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Student Letter Advocates for Crucial Change
“The instances in 2020 regarding racial injustice, such as the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and too many others, in addition to the release of data exhibiting how the COVID-19 pandemic was disproportionately impacting communities of color were all sobering. In response to these events, I wanted to hold the College of Medicine accountable for ensuring that its future graduates will be prepared to serve patients with the humanity and care that they deserve.”
—Jodi Llanora, Class of 2023
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In 2020, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others at the hands of police violence, as well as the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on marginalized communities, exhibited the need for social change.
Learners at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, “deeply shaken” by these events, gathered to see how they could help. They started with a powerful letter.
“Current events are bringing to light the ugly, systemic racism that continues to permeate our culture,” the letter read. “The disproportionate effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on communities of color and the many instances of racist crimes that have occurred just this month are major health issues. We believe that it is our responsibility to directly address these issues as future physicians to the best of our abilities.”
The letter went on to outline improvements that students and graduates wished to see at the College of Medicine including changes in the curriculum, admissions, orientation, faculty representation, and community service. Overall, 132 College of Medicine students, graduates, and more than a dozen student organizations signed the letter, with the intention of having the document be a running petition. Their goal was to counter racial disparities in education and in the future care they will provide as physicians.
“As students, we know that our educational experiences in the College of Medicine matter and that they influence the reputation of the institution. Bringing forth our observations of inequity and our demands for stronger inclusivity in the curriculum and academic culture was important for communicating our awareness of the problem. Our hope was to promote administrative action beyond acknowledgement of the problems that existed. And we hoped for full transparency from the college throughout the process of implementing our demands.”
—Kaylin Batey, Class of 2023
Kaylin Batey, a student in the Class of 2023, said the public health crises of systemic racism and COVID-19 were a call for action and accountability. As then-vice president of UK’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), Batey joined forces with Hina Iqbal from the Class of 2024 to assemble a coalition of students. Iqbal introduced the idea of a written letter and led the writing, organization, and gathering of signatures. She coordinated this work with SNMA, and thanks to strong teamwork, the efforts expanded to involve a wide range of faculty and students.
Together, students listed components of medical education and training that could be improved to ensure equality for all, not only at the UK College of Medicine, but also at medical colleges across the U.S.
“For those who believed Black lives mattered in the setting of police brutality, it was important to remind them that this advocacy is needed in our future profession as medical providers,” Batey said. “We share in this responsibility, and we owe it to our patients.”
For Jodi Llanora, a student in the Class of 2023 involved in the creation of the letter, the initiative was a call to implement changes that would ultimately help prepare students to serve as advocates for all patients, regardless of backgrounds.
“It was so important because it was an opportunity to empower the UK College of Medicine community to transform the field of medicine,” she said.
College of Medicine leadership welcomed the letter and responded by meeting with the students prior to implementing a plan to address the concerns. Over the past year, changes have been made, and the letter continues to be used as a resource and a guide. Some of the improvements that have been fulfilled so far include:
• Increased transparency from leadership while working to address concerns delivered by students, providing opportunities to solicit feedback, and welcome studentfaculty conversations. • The appointment of Health Equity and Advocacy thread leaders and a thread leader in Health System Sciences who will integrate learning objectives related to the social determinants of health into the core curriculum and make the curriculum more inclusive of race, gender, and sexual orientation. • Improvement in the demographic diversity of standardized patients and simulations for objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) in order to better reflect the patient population in the Lexington-Fayette area. Representation from Black standardized patients have increased from 8 percent in 2020 to 20 percent in 2021 in the College of Medicine. • Integration of more small-group discussions that focus on the sociopolitical determinants of health and addressing inequities in medicine.
“While there is still much work to be done and more room to improve, the College of Medicine has taken this letter from students and alumni as a thoughtful and needed call for change,” Stephanie White, MD, MS, associate dean for diversity and inclusion, said.
Dr. White and Acting Dean, Charles Griffith, MD, have ensured that students have been consistently updated throughout the past year on plans and progress. “We plan to continue this transparency, not only for accountability and ensuring our actions are having the intended impact, but also to demonstrate that we hear you, we see you, and we are committed to working to make the College of Medicine better,” Dr. White said.
Batey said his hope for the College of Medicine is that it becomes a national leader in health equity and inclusive medical education, for the good of the state and its people.n
“We have many changes ahead, and this letter I hope only served as an impetus to get the momentum going. Specifically, our College of Medicine’s minoritized students deserve an education which fully supports them, and all our College of Medicine students deserve an education which is honest, open, and critical of the structures which continue to disenfranchise and harm some of the most vulnerable members of our state, whom we will soon serve through our skills and degree.”
