Contributing Writer
John A. Burns School of Medicine
Maiya Smith is a third-year medical student at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, Hawaii class of 2022. In 2017, she graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Science in anthropology and human biology. She enjoys hiking with her dogs, surfing and macrame in her free time.
Medicine is a discipline that claims to be based on empirical and scientific truth about human nature. Instead, its knowledge and practice are often steeped in biases like racism. For example, medicine was used in the nineteenth century to justify slavery due to the “biologically inherent superiority” of White races.
Is medical education doing enough to address future physicians’ abilities to understand the perspectives of their patients? As a medical student, my growing disillusionment begins with medical school and the lack of opportunities afforded to us during our education to discuss matters such as racial inequality.
Contributing Writer
New York Medical College
Adonai Sebastian is a third-year medical student at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY class of 2022. In 2017, she graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience. She enjoys baking, traveling, and playing tennis/soccer in her free time. In the future, Adonai would like to pursue a career in neurology and become involved in medical education.
