Michel Martin, the host of “Tell Me More” on NPR, was scheduled to give the Washington University School of Medicine’s 2014 Martin Luther King Lecture. Unfortunately, she contracted a severe case of the flu and called to cancel her engagement 24 hours before the lecture.
As I walked into the auditorium at the medical center, I saw over 300 faces anxiously waiting to be enlightened by Michel Martin. I recalled what Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago, is fond of saying: “You never let a crisis go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Facing me was a golden opportunity to engage a critical mass of St. Louis residents in a conversation about the inequities that preclude so many St. Louisans from living the American Dream.
Using Michel Martin’s theme of “Telling the Hard Truths,” we elaborated on the hard issues facing St. Louis and the country, such as providing basic funding for public education and mental health services. We were able to address the ongoing debate on improving public education as a way of expanding healthcare workforce diversity.
There is a critical need for physicians of color to serve in our communities. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2010 Center for Workforce Studies, by 2020 there will be an estimated shortage of 20,000 primary care physicians. It is also estimated that 250,000 more public health workers will be needed by 2020. Many of these workers are essential to providing services to communities of color.
The concern is that the pipeline of African-American students in our public schools who are interested in medicine and public health has slowed to a trickle. Only a few states have demonstrated the necessary concern and compassion to restore requisite funding to public schools in disadvantaged communities in order to enhance the quality of science and math education needed to create the next generation of physicians, scientists and engineers. Public education reform is thus as vital as health care reform in ensuring the health of our communities.
Afterwards, we transitioned into a town hall forum, with Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton and Washington University School of Medicine Dean Larry Shapiro seated front and center. Without any planning (and knowing their good natures), we put them on the spot. The audience of well over 300 posed questions to the dean and chancellor on the subject briefs covered in the new report on the health of African Americans in St. Louis, “For the Sake of All.”
This was the first time that the community was able to offer candid, often biting questions directly to the leaders of Washington University. The forum turned out to be illuminating, enriching and quite therapeutic. In the course of over two hours, the auditorium remained near capacity and engaged.
The audience wanted immediate answers on how one of the nation’s preeminent universities and medical schools could help heal the deep social wounds that afflict the St. Louis African-American community. While the chancellor and dean squirmed just a bit at some of the jabbing questions, they were poised, eloquent and forthright in speaking about the myths of Washington University’s prowess (with little power over recalcitrant Republican legislators in Jefferson City) as well as its ability to foment positive change (look at the transformation of the Forest Park Southeast and Central West End neighborhoods over the past two decades).
We do not need any more hand-wringing and suffering from the paralysis of analysis as we debate policy issues that affect the African-American community. Instead, we need to engage in more candid discussions with candid leaders who agree to be held accountable for the change they can effect. And we must acknowledge, as my grandmother used to say, “When life serves you lemons, you make lemonade.”
Will Ross, MD, MPH, is associate dean for diversity and associate professor of medicine
At Washington University School of Medicine.
