Physician and alumnus of Xavier University of Louisiana Myiesha Taylor writes about the lack of diversity among medical professionals and the importance of having role models for children who aren’t just athletes and entertainers.
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I have very vivid memories of my childhood and wanting to become a physician. I spent many hours, actually days/months/years, playing “Doctor” with my stuffed animals. I had everything you could imagine in my “office”. Each animal had their own medical chart. I had bandages and other “equipment” to perform procedures. If my patients were “sick”, I could cure them.
I was also very fortunate that my mother, a registered nurse, encouraged my dream to become a doctor. When I was running low on charts or bandages she made sure that I got more. She encouraged my pretend play and made sure that no one diminished my dreams. I know that this “pretending to be a doctor” and the support of my mother played an important part in my becoming the physician I am today.
Recently I was watching Disney Junior with my youngest daughter when I saw an advertisement for Disney’s newest cartoon Doc McStuffins. The show is based on the adventures of a young African American girl and her ability to talk to and treat the ailments of toys. As I watched the commercial and the sneak peek episode, I saw myself. I remembered those days when I “talked to my toys” and cured whatever ailed them. I remembered how those dreams of a young girl laid the foundation for a future career.
Many readers know that we have expressed our concerns here in Coily News about the lack of diversity among medical professionals. We have written about studies that demonstrating that the lack of diversity among physicians is tied to increasing disparities in the quality of healthcare received by many Americans. As the United States continues to rapidly become a “majority minority” nation it is crucial for patient care that we have medical professionals that reflect that diversity. But how will we ever achieve this crucial public health goal? Disney’s Doc McStuffins is important part of the answer.
In this day and age when children of color are bombarded with media images of “success” that are based on becoming a professional athlete or an entertainer, we should not be shocked that most of our children’s dream career are one of those two. I see parents spending time and money (large amounts of both) on a child’s sports and/or music lessons and develpment. It seems that parents and children are consumed with winning a “golden ticket” (American Idol) or being the number one pick of the NFL or NBA draft.
Read Taylor’s full account here.
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