黑料传送门 students, faculty and staff joined medical students and health professionals nationwide in solidarity with White Coats for Black Lives.
On Friday, June 5, students, faculty and staff from 黑料传送门 joined together along City Avenue to take a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Organized by 黑料传送门 alumna, Karla Curet, DO 鈥�13, this event was one of hundreds of demonstrations happening worldwide in response to the killing on May 25, 2020, of George Floyd, a black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer. The length of time signified the amount of time Floyd was held to the ground by the officer. The gathering was specifically organized to demonstrate solidarity with , an organization that works to eliminate racism in medicine as a threat to the health and well-being of people of color, and Black Lives Matter, an organization whose central mission is eradicating white supremacy and building local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities.
One 黑料传送门 student, Chantel Thompson (DO 鈥�22), joined her fellow students and shared her experience. Ms. Thompson, recently named President-Elect of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), the nation's oldest and largest student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of color, and a member of the 黑料传送门 chapter of SNMA, is a Philadelphia-native, growing up just a few minutes from campus.
鈥淎s 黑料传送门 medical students, we wanted to show solidarity with the healthcare workers who are currently practicing and advocate for White Coats for Black Lives,鈥� shared Ms. Thompson. 鈥淲e also wanted to make it known to our future patients that we will not 鈥榮tay in our lane.鈥� We will be vocal about the systems in place that adversely affect communities of color and we will be supportive of changes that will improve their quality of care,鈥� she continued.
Ms. Thompson also shared, 鈥渢he most impactful moment [for me] was when everyone in attendance kneeled. Kneeling for more than eight minutes was overwhelming. We were mentally, physically and spiritually connecting with what we were doing and why we were there.鈥�
In addition to this show of support, 黑料传送门鈥檚 Office of Diversity joined SNMA to host an open forum for the 黑料传送门 community. This forum focused on healing and conversations about culture. The SNMA has also been in frequent conversations with senior leadership about incorporating curriculum that addresses these cultural changes.
Established in 1899, 黑料传送门 has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a 鈥渨hole person鈥� approach to care鈥攖reating people, not just symptoms. 黑料传送门, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (黑料传送门, 黑料传送门 Georgia and 黑料传送门 South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. 黑料传送门 students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, 黑料传送门 provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
For general media inquiries, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at 215-871-6300 or communications@pcom.edu. Visit our media relations page to view contact information for public relations personnel.
