COM Outlook Winter 2021

8 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE TACKLING INEQUITY program, who also serves on the unity program’s planning team. “Our intention is to create a community- wide conversation that does not diminish unique narratives.” KPCOM Cohesion More than 150 KPCOM faculty/staff members and students participated in the program’s inaugural Zoom meeting on July 14, which focused on the topic “Beginning the Dialogue: Racial Injustice.” Subsequent meetings have addressed issues such as “Racial Consciousness Through American History” and “Removing Our Masks: Cultural Bias, Humility, and Solidarity.” Beyond serving as an important forum to discuss relevant issues and share valuable resources, the program allows students to be intimately involved in the programmatic process on many levels. “The KPCOM’s Arts and Culture in Medicine Club is working on an artistic impression that reflects the feelings of students relative to diversity and social injustice, which will be featured in one of our future programs,” Anderson-Worts explained. “Some of the students are also helping to organize a White Coat for Black Lives Ceremony.” Anderson-Worts is aware that these types of discussions can be off-putting to some, but she knows the rewards will far outweigh the risks. “I heard sociologist Milton Bennett, Ph.D., say that working on unity and diversity in an institution can be polarizing,” she concluded. “However, when effectively brought together, they will lead to innovation. I truly want our college to represent the change I want to see in our nation and in the world. I can’t wait to see how we, as a group, come together in unity to create positive and innova- tive change.” o “I think the establishment of this program will create a safe space for KPCOM faculty and staff members and students to discuss tough issues surrounding race and injustices of many sorts that are perpetrated on people of color, especially Black people.” —Gordon Henry, educational services coordinator, Area Health Education Centers Program/Community Affairs “I hope we all learn more about and from each other, and that we get more comfortable in addressing topics that are traditionally uncomfortable. The hope is for us to emerge even more unified as a college.” —Delia Harper-Celestine, Ed.D., M.P.H. assistant dean of student affairs “I want to hear, and somehow contribute to, an honest, open, and meaningful conversation that could help NSU contribute to our world’s social evolution.” —Arlene Brett Gordon, Ph.D., LMFT, associate professor and director of the Brief Therapy Institute and the Medical Family Therapy program