Our patients’ life experiences are extraordinary, not average. And so are the lives of a pre-med. They do not fit neatly within the course requirements of a four-year or five-year-and-more undergraduate degree. Vanessa Peña-Garcia, Erick Leyva Bedolla, and Aisli Valencia are all working professionals in a different phase on their path to medical school. The pre-meds discuss it all - from the pressure of perfection, gratitude for the family who’ve come before them, and overcoming doubt.
Finding common ground and connecting with patients while working to destigmatize mental health issues is a tall order. Add to that the unique concerns communities of color have regarding mental health issues, and the task becomes even more daunting. The solution, according to psychiatrist and primary care provider Dr. Christine Kho, is more empathy. In this episode, Dr. Kho discusses incorporating cultural humility into patient care. She dives into the need for self-reflection, especially in terms of race and ethnic identity, and how this work propelled her into her career.
Dr. Talamantes, a recognized leader of health equity, found himself referenced in a paper used to discredit medical students of color. Speaking out against the claims and the continued ways people of color are left behind, Dr. Talamantes offers some resolve and his hopes for healthcare and the well-being of our communities.
Season 1 closes out with a two-part episode interviewing our very own co-host Dr. Efrain Talamantes. As a physician of color and AltaMed’s COO, Dr. Talamantes reflects on the past year from the pandemic to racial violence. He shares with us how mentors have guided him through challenging times and have made him more resilient to lead. As Dr. Talamantes says farewell to his co-hosts we welcome a new voice to the podcast. Take a listen to meet our new co-host Tatiana Alvarez with AltaMed’s Institute for Health Equity.
The Black experience in academia and feminizing frogs — two things you'd never thought you'd hear together. On the podcast is Dr. Tyrone Hayes, Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, one of the only tenured Black biology professors in the country. Dr. Hayes joins us to share how he stood his ground and followed his values after battling with a corporation that attempted to discredit his work and his name. During the wake of George Floyd's murder and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests, Dr. Hayes penned an open letter to UC Berkeley about the discrimination he faced as a Black professor in his department. Listen in as the doctors discuss with Dr. Hayes confidence, imposter syndrome, and pressure of having the spotlight on you as the only person of color in the room.
Though Dr. Ilan Shapiro has only been with AltaMed since 2016, he has already made a significant impact on the organization and the greater communities it serves. Dr. Shapiro is a tireless advocate for health care equality, with a deep affinity for innovation and public health policy, especially relating to the Latino population.
Kelley Butler is a rising 4th-year student at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. Hailing from Los Angeles, Kelley has committed herself to serve marginalized communities. She is an active member of various causes dedicated to students and professionals of color, people suffering from substance abuse disorder and addiction, people experiencing houselessness, and others. On her medical campus, Kelley is known for her work in social justice, health advocacy, and initiatives targeted for minority students. Kelley most recently completed her Masters of Public Health in Health Policy at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. There, she leads organizing efforts in juvenile justice reform and prison divestment, presented research on substance use and addiction treatment, completed a fellowship in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, increased civic engagement on campus through the Harvard Votes Campaign, and oversaw a workshop series on Imposter Syndrome. She is cur...
Gloria Itzel Montiel, Ph.D. was born in Mexico and immigrated to the US at age 8. She earned a Bachelor’s and Ed.M. from Harvard University and Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). Dr. Montiel serves as Senior Grant Writer at the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity and as a consultant with community-based organizations. Her work focuses on health equity in low-income communities of color. She has published and presented her work nationally and received many awards. As one of the first DACA recipients to receive a Ph.D. in the US, she has been interviewed by local and national media. Her educational journey was also captured in the short documentary film “Almost American,” which premiered at the Newport Film Festival in 2011. She currently teaches graduate-level courses at CGU. https://www.altamed.org/altamed-institute-health-equity
Dr. Dinora Chinchilla was born in Lincoln Heights, California and completed her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a Minor in Biology at California State University, Los Angeles. She then completed a Post-bac and received her medical degree at the University of California, Irvine. She completed her residency training in internal medicine at Harbor-UCLA. Dr. chinchilla credits her family and overcoming various health disparities as the drivers of her passion to become a pulmonary critical care physician.
Dr. Sherrill R. Brown was born in Rancho Cordova, California, and raised by her single mother who worked full time as an Echocardiogram Technician at Kaiser Permanente Morse Hospital in Sacramento, California. She attended American River College for her first two years of college and then transferred to the University of California, Davis where she received her Bachelor in Science degree in Biochemistry. Dr. Brown worked as a Reuse Technician for DaVita during a gap year between college and medical school where she learned more about the complex challenges patients face in accessing hemodialysis. She received her medical degree from the New York Medical College in Valhalla New York in 2008 and completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of California, Davis Medical Center where she began her scholarly work in infection prevention. She worked as a Hospitalist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) before completing an Infectious Disease Fellowshi...