Dismantling the Over Policing of Black Residents

The over-policing of Black students has been well documented in primary and secondary education. However, over-policing is a concept that is relatively new in the medical space despite its systemic presence. Black trainees make up 5% of the resident demographics and yet represent 20% of all dismissals (Mcdade ACGME can be reference) over-policing leads to a disproportionate amount of Black trainees facing remediation and attrition from medicine. In this didactic we will discuss the barriers that Black trainees experience in medical education and the impacts on their training, mental health, and career opportunities. We will also introduce a framework to support trainees that are faced with remediation. From this didactic, attendees will be able to identify opportunities for trainee support and areas for program improvement using the framework that will be introduced during this session.

Presenters:

  • Joshua Ellis, MD, MPH
  • Onyeka Otugo, MD, MPH, MPA
  • Alden M. Landry, MD MPH
  • Adaira Landry, MD, MEd
Authors

  • Joshua Ellis, MD, MPH

    University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

    Dr. Joshua Ellis is a faculty physician in Emergency Medicine at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He graduated from Howard University College of Medicine and completed his residency at the Mayo Clinic, where he was the recipient of the Golden Stethoscope Resident/Fellow Educator of the Year and also the Gold Humanism Award. He then went on to complete a Masters in public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and his education fellowship at Harvard Medical School and BIDMC.

    He now serves as the Clerkship Director for the EM Clerkship at UAMS and also as the Chair of the LGBTQ+ subcommittee of ADIEM at SAEM. His other work has focused on improving diversity within higher medical education, and he has published twice in New England Journal of Medicine as well as being awarded the Harvard Medical School Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award. He currently also is the clinical director of Project Heal, a Hospital Based Violence Intervention Program aimed at decreasing recidivism in. 

  • Onyeka Otugo, MD, MPH, MPA

    Attending Physician

    Brigham and Women's Hospital

    Dr. Onyeka Otugo completed a Health Policy Research and Translation fellowship in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she currently serves as faculty. Additionally, she holds a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Master of Public Health from Northwestern University. Her journey into emergency medicine was driven by her interests in policy and medicine, recognizing it as an avenue to advocate for underrepresented populations within our healthcare system. Throughout her career, Dr. Otugo has dedicated herself to dismantling barriers in healthcare access.

    In addition, Dr. Otugo is also about addressing obstacles in medical education through teaching and mentorship. She piloted "Lift and Elevate," aimed at providing mentorship to junior Black women physicians and equipping them with skill development trainings such as negotiations. Her commitment to equity and education is further evidenced by her contributions to publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Stat News, USA Today, New York Times, Lancet, and BMJ, where she sheds light on the systemic disparities present in both healthcare and medical education.

  • Alden M. Landry, MD, MPH

    Immediate Past President

    Dr. Landry is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Faculty Assistant Director of the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership, Associate Director and Advisor for William B. Castle Society, and Director of Health Equity Education at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as Senior Faculty at the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and is the founder and co-director of the non- profit organization Motivating Pathways. He strives to lead efforts for the Department of Emergency Medicine, the hospital and the medical school that will address health disparities and improve quality of care for the most disenfranchised.

    In addition to his clinical interests, Dr. Landry is involved in research on Emergency Department utilization trends, disparities in care and quality of care. He also co-instructs a course at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and teaches cultural competency to residents and physicians. Dr. Landry promotes careers in the health professions to under-represented minorities and mentors, scores of pre-medical students, medical students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. Dr. Landry also leads the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, (www.tour4diversity.org) an effort to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine, dentistry, and other biomedical careers.

    Dr. Landry has been recognized by his peers and colleagues as a leader in health equity and social justice. He has received numerous awards for his public health work and efforts to promote health care workforce diversity. He was recently awarded the Outstanding Academician Award by the Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine of the Society of Academic Emergency medicine and the Albert Frechette Award from the Massachusetts Public Health Association.

    Dr. Landry received his Bachelor of Science degree from Prairie View A&M University in 2002 and his medical degree from the University of Alabama in 2006. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2009. In 2010, he earned a Master’s in Public Health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and completed the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University. He received the Disparities Solutions Center/Aetna Fellow in Health Disparities award in 2010-2011.

     
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    Adaira Landry, MD, MEd

    Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

    Brigham & Womens Hospital/Harvard Medical School

    Dr. Adaira Landry is an emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She is a Harvard Medical School Society advisor, where she advises a cohort of medical students, and a co-chair for the diversity and inclusion committee for the department of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is also a mother to three young children. She is a published author on many platform including Harvard Business Review, NY Times, Vogue, USA Today, NEJM among many others. She is the author of MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact.

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