{"id":10196,"date":"2016-09-27T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=10196"},"modified":"2024-10-21T11:12:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T15:12:59","slug":"a-personal-perspective-on-race-opportunity-and-the-u-s-health-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2016\/09\/27\/a-personal-perspective-on-race-opportunity-and-the-u-s-health-system\/","title":{"rendered":"A Personal Perspective on Race, Opportunity and the U.S. Health System"},"content":{"rendered":"

Louis W. Sullivan, MD, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1989\u20131993, will speak on “A Personal Perspective on Race, Opportunity and the U.S. Health System<\/a>,\u201d at 2pm on October 4 in Lipsett Auditorium, located in Building 10 on the campus of the National Institutes of Health<\/a>. This talk is part of the NLM\u2019s History of Medicine lecture series<\/a> and based on his recently-published memoir,\u00a0Breaking Ground: My Life in Medicine<\/a>. A meet & greet with Dr. Sullivan, sponsored by the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences<\/a>, will follow the presentation. <\/em>Circulating Now interviewed him about his experiences in public service.<\/em><\/p>\n

Circulating Now:<\/strong> Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? How did you become interested in the work that has defined your career, and your public service?<\/p>\n

\"Formal<\/a>Louis W. Sullivan:<\/strong> I was born in Atlanta in 1933, during the depth of the Depression, in a society segregated by law. \u00a0My father moved our family to Blakely, Georgia, a rural community in Southwest Ga., to establish the first funeral home for blacks in that town.
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I met Dr. Joseph Griffin in Bainsbridge, Ga., the only black physician in Southwest Ga. \u00a0I decided by age five that I wanted to be a doctor like Dr. Griffin.<\/p>\n

By their teaching and their example, my parents instilled in me the value of public service, contributing to the community.<\/p>\n

CN:\u00a0<\/strong>You\u2019ll be speaking at NIH on October 4, offering a presentation entitled \u201cA Personal Perspective on Race, Opportunity and the U.S. Health System.\u201d Would you share a highlight or two from your lecture?<\/p>\n

LWS: <\/strong>I learned from a number of mentors, the values of honesty, integrity, compassion and service to others. I was taught to strive for excellence, to be the best in all of my endeavors\u2014academic, athletic, etc.<\/p>\n

I have always been inspired by people who work to improve their world.<\/p>\n

I have been fortunate to have had the support of my parents, teachers and others who have encouraged me along the way.<\/p>\n

CN:\u00a0<\/strong>Tell us about a defining moment in your career? What did you learn? What impact did it have on your work?<\/p>\n

LWS:\u00a0<\/strong>A defining moment in my career was when I was accepted onto Boston University School of Medicine. This represented for me a transition from college into professional school, from a segregated society (Atlanta) to an integrated community (Boston).<\/p>\n

In medical school I learned that my preparation was just as thorough as that of my classmates who had graduated from Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Dartmouth, and other prestigious institutions. I also found that I was fully accepted socially by my classmates (I was the only black) in my class of 76 medical students.<\/p>\n

I was encouraged to work even harder, to excel academically and socially.<\/p>\n

CN:\u00a0<\/strong>What advice might you have for individuals aspiring to make a difference in the U.S. health system and in your view, what can history teach us about the U.S. health system?<\/p>\n

LWS:<\/strong>\u00a0My advice to those aspiring to make a difference in the U.S. health system is to follow your passion, believe in service to others, gain your reward for work well done; and take the long view for needed changes and improvements.<\/p>\n

History teaches us that investing sufficient resources into our health system brings us many medical advances, improving health and saving dollars because of the improvements.<\/p>\n

Watch on YouTube<\/h3>\n