Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, September 11, 2020
In this Issue:

Editor's Corner
  • Bruce H Campbell, MD FACS – Editor, The Kern Transformational Times: Trying to Remember 9/11

Perspective
  • Leroy J. Seymour, MD MS Internal Medicine – PGY1: On inclusion, diversity, and why Black Lives Matter too.
  • Kristen Pallok and Shaina Sekhri: Racism is a Public Health Crisis: When Will We Decide It Matters?
  • Kathlyn Fletcher, MD MA, Lily Littrell and Luke Littrell: Authenticity, Selflessness, Courage, and Team

Poetry Corner
  • Langston Hughes: Harlem 

Your Turn
  • See how readers answered last week's prompt: When you think back on Summer 2020, what will you remember?
  • Respond to this week's prompt: Where were you on September 11, 2001 and how did you learn of the attacks?

Announcements & Resources
  • Register for the Kern Institute's Upcoming Virtual Events
  • Kern National Network Connections Newsletter - September 2020
  • Suicide Prevention Week Resources
  • Link to AWSM COVID-19 Survey
Editor's Corner
Trying to Remember 9/11

by Bruce H Campbell, MD FACS – Editor, The Kern Transformational Times


Dr. Campbell shares his experience of being in the operating room the morning of 9/11 and what has happened in the years that followed …


“A plane! A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center.”

I looked up from where I stood next to the operating table. My resident and I were concentrating as we worked through the operation to remove a malignant skin lesion and the nearby lymph nodes from a patient’s neck. The surgery had just started but the scars from another surgeon’s biopsy made the initial steps of the dissection tricky.

“What?”
Perspective
On inclusion, diversity, and why Black Lives Matter too.

by Leroy J. Seymour, MD MS
Internal Medicine – PGY1

What our MCW community BLM protests mean to our colleagues of color.

"On Wednesday, Sept. 2nd, at 5:11pm, members of the Medical College of Wisconsin held a Black Lives Matter protest to help shine a light on the frequent propensity for violence against people of color. This latest protest is one of hundreds of protests against police brutality and racial injustice that have been occurring in various cities, states, and countries, most recently triggered by the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020, in Minneapolis, MN. So many people have demonstrated peacefully and expressed their voices, all vying for the same dream Martin Luther King Jr. expressed to the world. Almost every aspect of the world’s population has provided an overwhelming outpouring of support of the Black Lives Matter movement; taking the baton and relaying the message that “Black Lives Matter too” to widespread media coverage and the political stage.

MCW faculty, residents, and medical students alike raised their voices in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. This stance informed the world that MCW and the Froedtert medical community will not tolerate racism, and that racism itself is a pandemic that needs to be eradicated. The Sept. 2nd protest involved holding 7 minutes of sustained silence, each minute representing every bullet maliciously aimed at the back of Jacob Blake, an unarmed African American man returning to his vehicle, by Rusten Sheskey, a Kenosha WI police officer. Mere seconds after an instinctive proclivity for violence towards nonaggression left a man paralyzed, the world responded with outrage and exhaustion, yet another example of the unfair mistreatment of people of color when interacting with those with a perceived position of authority. "
Perspective
Racism is a Public Health Crisis: When Will We Decide It Matters?

by Kristen Pallok and Shaina Sekhri

* This is an editorial piece and therefore does not represent the views, opinions and polices of MCW 

Drs. Pallok and Sekhri, allies as MCW works to become anti-racist, challenge the institution to do better …

"In late June of 2019, we arrived at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) for our internal medicine residency. Two newly minted female physicians arriving at the same institution, struck separately by the same conclusion: a lack of racial diversity.
 
There is a hallway in MCW that displays a decades-long photographic history of MCW’s medical school classes. As a woman, it’s hard to miss – a long timeline of white, male medical practitioners. And while some would think we would have long moved beyond this one-sided picture of white, male privilege, it has recently become clear to many individuals that we have not."
Perspective
Authenticity, Selflessness, Courage, and Team

by Kathlyn Fletcher, MD MA, Lily Littrell and Luke Littrell

Dr. Fletcher (accompanied by her daughter’s artwork) talks about how local sports teams have shown the way as we all try to find ways to use our skills to make a difference … 


" On August 26, the Milwaukee Bucks were scheduled to play the fifth game in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Orlando Magic.  But then they didn’t. The team did not take the floor, ready to forfeit an important playoff game. Eventually, we learned that the team had come to the painful decision that they could not play basketball in the wake of another shooting of a black man, this time close to home. 

Jacob Blake, a black man from Kenosha, WI, was shot in the back by a police officer seven times on Sunday, August 23, 2020. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still emerging, but what is clear is that we are once again facing an extreme, violent, life-changing action by law enforcement against a black man. Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the country were reeling. It all felt devastatingly familiar. And then the Bucks stepped in. Or rather, stepped away, firmly, quietly sending the most powerful of messages. "
Poetry is central to the very core of humanity.
It is universal in its accessibility, yet infinitely diverse
in its interpretation.


This week we wanted to feature a poem written by Langston Hughes in 1951 entitled, Harlem also called A Dream Deferred. It was originally published as a part of his book: Montage of a Dream Deferred. Systemic racism is ingrained in the very foundation of medicine and medical schools – we ask you consider what you can do to be a part of the “explosion.”

This is an editorial piece and therefore does not represent the views, opinions and polices of MCW 



Harlem
by Langston Hughes 


What happens to a dream deferred?

      Does it dry up
      like a raisin in the sun?
      Or fester like a sore—
      And then run?
      Does it stink like rotten meat?
      Or crust and sugar over—
      like a syrupy sweet?

      Maybe it just sags
      like a heavy load.

      Or does it explode?


Please send your poems or poems you love for next week's
Poetry Corner to Olivia Davies and Scott Lamm.
White Coats for Black Lives
White Coats for Black Lives
White Coats for Black Lives
Creating a Shared Language and continuing conversations about Racial Inequities

Leaders and staff across our community have participated in a 21 Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge. One of the outcomes has been a commitment to ongoing dialogue, and regular communication about resources. For those who wish to join a conversation, please email DOMAdmin@mcw.edu to join. In addition, MCW’s Culture of Inclusion and Title IX Steering Committees, supported by Dr. Greer Jordan, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, have created the MCW Inclusion Glossary (attached above- could you create a link to the PDF with picture of the document?) to help us develop a shared language to integrate our differences. This thoughtful document also contains numerous resources and references to guide our future activities.
David J. Cipriano, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Student and Resident Behavioral Health invites us all to “Seize the Awkward,” by taking advantage of the awkward moments of silence to reach out to friends, family, and colleagues who might be hurting. 

MCW COVID-19 Survey Open Through 9/18/2020
 
MCW faculty are invited to share feedback on how COVID-19 has affected academic and clinical productivity, work/life integration, stress, and caregiving. The survey will take 5 to 15 minutes. No identifying information is required.  
The MCW Center for the Advancement of Women in Science and Medicine (AWSM) knows that COVID-19 has affected all our lives, bringing dramatic changes to work and home life. Labs and projects were halted while new projects were urgently launched. Vital support personnel were furloughed. Some clinics sat empty while others were filled to beyond capacity. Amid that, life changed at home, as well – whether through unexpected loneliness or unexpected togetherness.   
 
We want to understand how the pandemic has affected our community and how best to support each other. The survey will capture some details of the complex lives of our faculty.
 
Please share your thoughts now through September 18, 2020.
 
 AWSM appreciates your feedback and thoughts as we continue to navigate the pandemic together.   
 
Have questions about this survey? Contact Dr. Libby Ellinas at libby@mcw.edu 
Survey Link Responses


" Coming to the reality that some, not all, people fear me simply because of the color of my skin. Realizing that there are so many more that do not see me in this light. Identifying so many that may not be family or friends but are allies in this fight. Committed to making sure that racism is not permanent." - Debra Nevels, Staff


“The stillness of society. The quietness of a metropolis. All beautiful in their own way and all much needed to calm a wounded soul. When life came to a stand-still this time not out of my own fate but because the universe conspired for all of us to turn off the noise and look inward." - Gee Palladino, Graduate Student

Instagram Post Responses

"Meeting and connecting with amazing colleagues at MCW" -Laura Grogan, M2


"A brief return to semi-normal." - Daniel Bor, M2


“ Eating so many hot dogs” - anonymous


Respond to next week's reflection prompt:


Where were you on September 11, 2001 and how did you learn of the attacks?
Connection Cafe Presentation
Student Mental Health Climate Survey 2020: How are we doing?
by David J. Cipriano, PhD, Director of Student and Resident Behavioral Health, Medical College of Wisconsin
September 17, 2020
Live Virtual Presentation
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
Grand Rounds Panel Presentation
Navigating Ethical Issues in Resource Allocation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Please join us for a panel presentation and Q&A with members of the MCW Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities including Arthur R. Derse, MD, JD; Mary E. Homan, DrPH, MA, MSHCE; Fabrice Jotterand, PhD, and Ryan Spellecy, PhD
September 24, 2020
Live Virtual Presentation
9:00 - 10:00 am CT
Transformational Ideas Initiative
MCW Education Innovation Celebration!

Please join us in celebrating innovative ideas for the transformation of medical education at MCW!

Learn about the 15 projects being implemented this academic year and how you can join us as we transform medical education here at MCW! Thirteen of our projects focus on URM student inclusion, and 8 projects are student-led this year.

Join us on the journey to transform medical education!
October 14, 2020
Live Virtual Presentation
4:00 - 6:00 pm CT
The Kern National Network
Click anywhere on the image for the KNN's September 2020 Newsletter
Our Patients Need Your Blood!
The pandemic has changed so much about our day-to-day lives, but it certainly hasn’t changed the need for life-saving blood products for our seriously ill patients. 

Current supplies are limited, which impacts our patients with cancer, chronic anemia, and solid organ transplants.   

Give the gift of hope. Our patients need you today! 
MCW COVID-19 Resource Center
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