Title:Introducing: The Reservoir

Transcript

Chelsea Burwell:
Hi, this is Chelsea Burwell from Georgetown University, and you are listening to the first episode of our newest podcast, The Reservoir.

On May 25th of this year, the entire nation was shaken by the unspeakable murder of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis killed at the hands of police. Two months earlier, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police while in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment during an alleged no-knock search.

Chelsea Burwell:
Names like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery have tragically been added to a long list of Black and Brown people unjustly killed due to racialized violence in wanton police action. Subsequently, the outrage following their killing set off a wave of protests and demonstrations calling for justice. And on June 3rd, 27 Georgetown medical students penned a letter to faculty and administrators, calling for change on their very own campus.

Stephen Kane:
I think a lot of people were activated, frustrated, saddened. And we basically began a dialogue among students on, how can we affect change right now? What can we do?

Chelsea Burwell:
The voice you just heard is that of Stephen Kane. Kane is a fourth-year medical student and one of the authors of the letter that went out to faculty and administrators. One month after the letter was created and sent to GUMC leadership, the medical center responded by launching the Racial Justice Committee for Change. This group is co-led by students, staff, and faculty at the medical center, including committee faculty co-chair, department chair of family medicine, and Georgetown alumna Dr. Michelle Roett.

Dr. Michelle Roett:
The murder of Breonna Taylor happened, and then the murder of George Floyd happened. I think we all really felt devastated and tremendously devastated for students as well for what they were going through in the middle of trying to be students. And understanding that, I can certainly process this as a faculty member and take some time off and really divest myself from what’s going on. But for students, they’re really under a microscope and the expectation for them is to be able to perform no matter what.

Chelsea Burwell:
On this episode, I sat down with Kane and Roett to discuss the climate that catalyzed the committee and to see how the work is going thus far. Stay tuned.

Chelsea Burwell:
This message and podcast episode is supported by the newly renamed Georgetown Health Magazine. The semi-annual publication reaching alumni and friends of the schools and programs of Georgetown University Medical Center is set to release its digital issue this fall with featured content around gut health. Learn more about how closely related the gut and the brain are and how experts in the field are suggesting that we tend to our immunity for the flu season and the next wave of COVID-19. To read more of this content and past issues of the magazine, head over to alumni.georgetown.edu/health-magazine.

Chelsea Burwell:
The launch of the Racial Justice Committee for Change marks a major milestone for Georgetown, which has endeavored to address racial justice and even equity throughout its history. For example, the School of Medicine has a range of programs and initiatives like the Council of Diversity Affairs and Diversity Dialogues in Medicine to create spaces that draw attention to racial inequities in the field. However, the beginning of the Racial Justice Committee for Change also marks something bigger for the university. It marks a culmination of sentiments and conversations that have taken place amongst current and past students within and beyond the medical school. Simply put, this work is literally decades in the making.

Dr. Michelle Roett:
When I started as a student, it was 21 years ago. It was a much different environment, certainly. And I would say many of the feelings that I had then, I still have today around experiences of bias or discrimination or racism. And I think the murder of George Floyd, along with Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others, really brought to the forefront, those feelings.

Chelsea Burwell:
Feelings passionately expressed by the students behind the letter sent to GUMC leadership. Citing things from microaggressions to murder, the students called for administrators to stand against all forms of racism. And more importantly, they challenged the university to uphold its Jesuit values when it truly matters.

Stephen Kane:
We’re now at a spot where we have asked the institution to reflect upon itself with those Jesuit values as the maybe North Star, you might put it, and saying that, “Okay, If we’re going to be cura personalis, consider everyone and think about our role in the community, can we do that and still have these racist actions?” And the answer is no.

Chelsea Burwell:
Kane adds that the very underpinnings of racism that exists within Georgetown’s history and the history of health and medicine make it an obligation for students like him at GUMC to take on this mantle for racial justice. As for Dr. Roett, she echoes Kane’s sentiments and believes that this moment was inevitable for Georgetown, an institution that promotes service-driven work, faith in justice, and women and men for others. As an alumni, she says the very experiences faced by students like her have shaped this catalyst moment for the committee.

Dr. Michelle Roett:
But as an institution that’s so focused on those less fortunate than we are, working with underserved patients, focusing on health equity and health disparities in the D.C. and Maryland area and Virginia, I think this was natural. I feel as though we have been activating our student body on social justice and racial biases and racial equity for decades. And we want our students to be advocates and leaders, and we’ve been training them to be that for more than decades.

Dr. Michelle Roett:
And so as a graduate of Georgetown, I’ve always felt that I received a solid foundation in how to be a leader, how to be a servant leader, how to put my patients first, and how to make sure that all of the decisions that I make clinically are to benefit my patients and to ensure that I’m thinking about the social determinants of health and that I consider racism a social determinant as well, and a public health crisis. I think these teachings are quite prevalent on campus, and this is not new information. And in activating our students in this way, we knew that there would be this day where the students would be pushing the institution to have the same ideals in everything that they approach.

Chelsea Burwell:
Dr. Roett considers herself to be an ally of the students and says she fully supports the letter that came before leadership at GUMC.

Dr. Michelle Roett:
What perked my interests in coming forward was reading the letter. And I’d had some students approach me about the content or some of the points that they were going to make. And so I certainly gave my feedback. But the final product was really a student-generated product that was so impressive in terms of being able to express racism as a public health crisis, understanding the contributions of bias in medical education, how detrimental it could be to the well-being and mental health of students, understanding their lens in thinking about leadership and faculty representation. It was so comprehensive. We all stood up and paid attention, and then we all saw it as a door opening to having some dialogue and really moving forward and making change.

Chelsea Burwell:
The biggest takeaway were the 10 action items laid out for GUMC and university leadership. The letter was widely supported by the GUMC community. In fact, it garnered over 500 signatures from fellow medical students. As one might imagine, the dynamic between students and faculty working together on a committee might be a bit tricky. Luckily, Kane provided some insight into how the students thought about this going into the launch of the group.

Stephen Kane:
There was some hesitation for a lot of students upfront because these are people in the administration, they hold power over your grades or letters or recommendations, whatever it may be. And so that power dynamic was always present. And there’s always been conversations among our students about who’s in the room, who we’re having these conversations with. Because while we’re doing this work, we’re obviously worried that this could hurt us in some way. Thankfully, ever since the establishment of the RJCC, the faculty that we selected and got involved with are just some of the most amazing and understanding faculty. And one of the points that we actually made was to make sure that the faculty are doing the bulk of this work with the students steering. And that has actually allowed for a more healthy relationship where we’re able to go through our rotations, not feel overburdened, and actually be able to work through with this committee and make some progress.

Chelsea Burwell:
This process allows for greater chances of longevity for the work to continue, even after the current cohort matriculates through Georgetown. So far, the committee has already implemented measures that have taken shape this semester.

Stephen Kane:
Representation of Black faculty being upfront, as far as recruiting students, as far as students having role models and overall well-being. So they actually changed one of the learning societies to reflect one of the pediatric ENT docs that’s been at Georgetown for quite some time, Dr. Earl Harley.

Chelsea Burwell:
Dr. Earl Harley is the first African-American physician at Georgetown to have a learning society named in his honor. During this year’s Virtual White Coat Ceremony, he led the class of 2024 in their Hippocratic Oath. The incoming class was also assigned readings on racial justice and anti-racism. The Racial Justice Committee for Change and its dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion work joins the ranks of several other initiatives within GUMC, including SPARKs and the GEMS program. With plans and progress already underway, the committee is optimistic about the upcoming months. On top of that, they have the avid support of executive dean of the medical center, Dr. Ed Healton.

Dr. Michelle Roett:
He’s hoping for us to continue to report to him, keep him informed of how things are going, but also hold him accountable and hold the administration accountable for the things that we felt in the short-term needed to be addressed. And also, by the final time, I think the charge asked us to come up with a final report by December, that in this interim period between now and December, that there’s going to be deliverables that we are expecting, that we need the administration’s input on, that, for example, we need data, we need more specific support and help about getting towards the goals. And so we need to be able to communicate openly and effectively with Dr. Healton on all of this, but also with the Office of Medical Education in the School of Medicine. In his charge, he was also very specific that he wanted us to include the School of Nursing and Biomedical Graduate Education as well. And so we’ve been having those discussions about how to engage leadership from NHS and BGE, and how we could work together.

Chelsea Burwell:
Kane adds that alumni have an equally important role in making sure that racial justice happens within their work as well. He offers advice to alumni and friends of the university in how to stay engaged with racial justice work.

Stephen Kane:
First off, educate yourself, and actually try to understand where these racial disparities are coming from. What’s contributing to them? What are the structural situations that are contributing to them? Which policies maybe need changing? And then also, what biases need to be addressed? Something that you can do on your own is you’re learning about your own implicit bias, thinking about explicit bias, and then just keep basically everything you’re doing, try to apply a health equity lens to it. As far as supporting the university and the work of the RJCC and the students, I’d say, every time you have a conversation with someone in the administration, bring up the RJCC and how excited you are about the work. Because the more the administration hears about it, the more it becomes a culture change, the more that it’s upfront, it stays upfront in our university, and the more longer lasting impact we can have.

Chelsea Burwell:
All right, everyone. That wraps up the first episode of The Reservoir. If you enjoyed what you heard, please let us know by writing us a message at healthmagazine@georgetown.edu.

I’d like to thank Stephen Kane and Dr. Michelle Roett for taking the time to speak with me for this episode. I’d also like to thank Jerome Murray, Dr. Tamika Auguste, and the entire Racial Justice Committee for Change for bringing this important work to the forefront at Georgetown. Finally, a major thank you to the supportive team behind the scenes of The Reservoir. Jane Varner Malhotra, Camille Scarborough, Hillary Koss, Anupam Chakravarty, Camille Alejandro, Chris Enochs, and Elisa Morsch. Until next time, take care and be well.

Share your feedback at healthmagazine@georgetown.edu.