Dr. Imani McElroy is a general Surgery resident at MGH. Since the last time we spoke with her, she has completed a master’s in public health at Harvard Chan. She plans to spend this academic year working on research projects with a focus on disparities in health care delivery, complex aortic disease, and implementation sciences. 

Dr. Nikhil Panda, known as Panda, is a rising 4th year general surgery resident who will be joining the MGH 4+3 cardiothoracic program. Originally from Chattanooga, TN, Panda relocated to Boston for training where he completed an MPH in qualitative methods, and his interests include mobile health technology in surgery. He is a loving husband to his wife and the proud father of his baby girl.  

In this episode, we explore the myth that diversity waters down excellence.  In contrast to the reverberating claims, equity and social justice converge to produce an exceptional workforce that provides quality care that covers all people.  Excluding how the social aspects of someone’s life interplays with their work and health is an injustice to everyone.  There is no better way to define excellence than to exemplify those that have overcome the inequities and oppression that has been placed on them.  We need to always be the best version of ourselves, and to open the door for the people behind us, to drown out opposing voices.  Medicine will remain exclusive of people and perspectives that can take it into new dimensions if pipeline myths are not disbarred, and the people who are responsible for shaping the future promote a narrow definition of excellence.  We challenge the next generation of leaders to value inclusivity beyond lip service.  

Red Hoffman is an acute care surgeon in Asheville, North Carolina who is board certified in general surgery, surgical critical care and hospice and palliative medicine.  She serves as the surgical clerkship director for the University of North Carolina Asheville campus and also works as an associate hospice medical director for CarePartners Hospice.  She is a writer whose work has been featured in JAMA, General Surgery News, KevinMD and Doximity.  She is the creator and host of the Surgical Palliative Care Podcast and the co-founder of the recently formed Surgical Palliative Care Society. 

In this episode we discuss the unfortunate death of her father by a Islamic fundamentalist when she was 19 years old and how this pivotal event and grief journey shaped her.  She has a disposition where she sees the glass as half full and did not turn to anger.  She somaticized her grief and a naturopath helped in her healing process.  Through processing her emotions she became interested in mental and physical health, which eventually lead her to trauma/critical care and eventually to hospice and palliative medicine.  Then, her long term partner fell off a ladder and had a traumatic brain injury which made her question everything she knew.  Unlike sudden death, this ongoing process of suffering has pushed her limits of resiliency.  Her openness and candidness will engage you in her journey and the lessons she has learned along the way.  You will not want to miss this heart felt episode.

Dr. Darilyn Moyer is a board-certified Internist and Infectious Disease specialist who has been a FACP since 2007. She has served on the Board of Regents, chaired American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Board of Governors and served as Governor of ACP’s Pennyslvania SE Chapter. Dr. Moyer’s research & scholarly activities are in the areas of medical education, high value care, patient safety, and professionalism. In 2016, Dr. Moyer was the first woman to serve as the ACP Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the 101-year history of the organization.  She is one of three women physician CEOs in about 48 national physician professional society.

In this episode, we discuss her various leadership roles and how she is using her position to connect with women and men to forward JEDI (Just, Equitable, Diverse, Inclusive) and anti-racist environments in healthcare.  The ACP has a center for Ethics and Professionalism that seeks to advance physician and public understanding of ethics and professionalism issues in the practice of medicine to enhance patient care by promoting the highest ethical standards.  She accesses these resources to ensure that decisions regarding JEDI are grounded in evidence.  

The goal is not merely to have one person that represents the diversity of the rank and file of the organization at that table, nor to meet the metrics of diversity by obtaining the right number of women, age-appropriate members, or persons of color.  But rather, overall outcomes will improve when well-qualified leadership is diversified, thus adding value, expertise, and alternative perspective.  Key leaders need to understand the importance of disrupting systems that have been in place for centuries by inviting energetic folks to the front lines to help bring about these necessary changes.