My Leadership

During my time at the University of South Carolina, I have participated in research projects in two countries, the United States and the Dominican Republic. Because I was inspired by what I learned in his ANTH101: Understanding Other cultures class, I joined Dr. David Simmons in his research on health disparities and the history of how they arose and are perpetuated today. My research began in the United States because my focus was on COVID-19 in African American communities and the culture surrounding it. Under the mentorship of Dr. David Simmons again for my second semester, I did research on health disparities in the Dominican Republic. I primarily focused on Haitian women's health as they are a minority there despite small racial differences. Based on my research on the island of Hispanola, although there is little racial difference between Haitians and Dominicans, there is a rampant level of anti-haitianism or anti-blackness that has affected the maternity and infant mortality on the island, despite Dominican healthcare being better than what the women have in Haiti. This is significant as my research focuses on minimizing racial disparities, so this required me to look at the social dynamics from a new racial lens - the same lens that Dominicans and Haitians view each other - to identify what is truly at the core of how race affects healthcare disparities. During the time I conducted my research, I had opportunities to work within the local community of Columbia South Carolina as highlighted in my key insights. Those experiences, in addition to my research, provided me with a lot to reflect on as someone who wishes to do medicine. Because my research was qualitative, I could apply what I learned from the research to find connections to what may be disadvantageous to a community, on an individual basis, to enhance the quality of care for many, especially in situations in which solutions to health disparities are found. 

A significant problem I have seen in disadvantaged communities is the lack of support from the larger community, especially when there is a perception of a dominant culture. During my undergraduate academic experience in Dr. Simmons's class, I gained an understanding of how crucial it is to analyze racial, ethnic, and cultural barriers when it comes to healthcare. Within my anthropology class, we were encouraged to go into the community and actively observe and draw conclusions based on what we learned. Dr. Simmons always urged his pre-medical students into looking into the welfare of the community and that is when I developed an interest in health disparities; as I am a minority student. Though there is research on what disparities exist, there are groups that often go ignored because of the type of research that is done, and the research often does not provide suggestions to actively implement solutions. From researching disparities in two different countries, I see how race and ethnicity historically affected those that live there, I can see how by not researching the way culture affects health we cannot provide solutions to minimize poor health outcomes. This poses a significant problem for newer research because it can affect the testing and training in a clinical setting. To my knowledge, there are no standardization criteria for how race is defined. However, there can still be solutions to provide equity if health disparities are accurately addressed. I have highlighted the process of how these insights came to me in my key insights. Although I gained these insights during my research and work in the community, the process of learning from those experiences was often reflective. Finding a resolution to this required me to have a historical knowledge of the places and people I studied in addition to how their communities developed. However, it allowed me to tailor the research questions I wanted to answer. I wanted to know if race or ethnicity and the perception of it had a significant effect on healthcare outcomes.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina and the broader community could implement the concepts below to focus their research on underserved communities in SC. Hospitals as well could use this as a possible solution to promote the development of supporting underserved communities in the Columbia area and during times when patients receive care privately.

1. Introduction of racial/ethnic identity as medically important and assessing implicit biases of healthcare workers 
2. Continuing education for professionals and revision of medical studies and works that implicate author has racial biases.
3.  Collaboration and partnership between the University of South Carolina or a local educational institution, medical researchers, and professionals to promote cultural sensitivity.
4. The partnering of universities to compile qualitative research into quantitative results to actively identify an area of need.

This solution would be integral to addressing health disparities in South Carolina by providing a pathway for healthcare providers to connect to patients and communities. Implementation of this practice in the Columbia community and other cities in South Carolina could lead to better health outcomes for the entire region. I say this because, as a community becomes more familiar with an institution that has shown it respects the community, those that live there are more likely to be proactive in participating in research on diverse populations and working with outreach from hospitals. This research could also facilitate a better understanding of how people fit into the larger picture of the health of the public because different groups may be more prone to be affected by certain criteria but embody it differently than what healthcare providers or researchers predict. Such as, African Americans and Hispanic people may downplay their pain, while Europeans are more prone to express discomfort. Indigenous Americans and Muslim people may not make eye contact, but this is because of their culture – not them possibly being shy or not paying attention. By changing medical care to reflect these differences, a more detailed picture of a person's health can be made. In addition, if there is no addressing of healthcare disparities and how they are perpetuated, there can be dire consequences. For example, the Magical Negro stereotype has led many African Americans to suffer pain or worse die when receiving medical care. However, it is implied in medical training and in clinical settings that they simply were not “healthy enough”, not that they needed more care. By using research to target and remove barriers and improve equity, healthcare could dramatically progress forward because patients will be heard and more comfortable with accessing healthcare and having trust in those that conduct research for medical studies.

 My study has the potential to significantly change the clinical environment and fully address health disparities based on the patient's present condition and background. As my research is based on a patient-doctor relationship, it could be developed to address research inequalities and other people studies as well. Instead of worrying about the attempt to get patients to understand the terminology they may not know, the doctor can accurately learn to assess patients and adapt in an environment of equality. In addition, public health professionals would be able to pinpoint where help is most needed when assessing communities. Overall, the intent is to help bridge the gap between health disparities and give back to the communities that we are within. The implementation is not a single solution to solving healthcare disparities but could be used as a synopsis of what disadvantaged groups may need, which can further encourage conversation and action in the private clinic and outside. There is not much research on certain minorities around the world, such as in my case, Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, so having information available on these special groups could open a door for more specialized programs. Implementing the solutions I found from my research, could lead to addressing the poor outcomes of so many people locally in South Carolina. By collaborating with the Prisma Health Richland Hospital and creating policies to combat medical discrimination we could effectively combat the high cases of cardiovascular diseases on a multi-issue platform - which will benefit many disadvantaged people living here in Columbia, South Carolina. In addition, medical researchers would be incentivized to look at a diverse array of people and their food habits, environment, and personal health profile before concluding what is affecting them in their studies. Peers of mine have been deterred from this research due to frustrations, most of which are caused by disorganization or lack of data. However, I encourage them to continue and others who want to explore culture and health, because when we give insight into how the health of people historically progresses into the present, we help bring aid to society.