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| Opening Doors tells the stories of four pioneering African American surgeons and educators who exemplify excellence in their fields and believe in continuing the journey of excellence through the education and mentoring of younger physicians and surgeons. |
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| Dr. Pugh modestly expressed disbelief at being included in the exhibit with such “larger than life” surgeon/educator pioneers. |
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Drs. Boone, Jameson, and Pugh were on hand to welcome visitors to the Opening Doors exhibit. |
Opening Doors to Diversity
Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons is an inspiring free exhibit now on display in the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center. Through vibrant display panels, this traveling exhibit highlights and celebrates the contributions that African American academic surgeons have made and are making to medicine and medical education. Opening Doors is a collaborative effort developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. It tells the stories of four pioneering African American surgeons and educators who exemplify excellence in their fields and believe in continuing the journey of excellence through the education and mentoring of younger physicians and surgeons.
Through the efforts of the Office of Minority and Cultural Affairs at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and other Feinberg School and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) leaders, Opening Doors will be displayed in the atrium of the Lurie Medical Research Center until March 13. On March 14 it will be installed on the third floor Galter Pavilion atrium of NMH and be on display until April 28.
Fueling much of the excitement for the Northwestern community is the inclusion of Feinberg School surgeon, Carla M. Pugh, MD, PhD, whose career highlights appear on the “New Frontiers” display panel and others. Dr. Pugh, assistant professor of surgery and director of the Center for Advanced Surgical Education, combines her expertise as a surgeon with technology in medical education. She developed a patented, licensed model for a simulated pelvic exam. Using electronic sensors that offer specific feedback, medical students are specially trained to perform several highly sensitive patient exams, including those of the pelvis, breast, and prostate.
Dr. Pugh modestly expressed disbelief at being included in the exhibit with such “larger than life” surgeon/educator pioneers. “I actually met Alexa I. Canady, LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., Claude H. Organ Jr., and Rosalyn P. Scott in Washington, D.C. last year. If I can contribute half of what Drs. Organ and Leffall have accomplished, I’ll be proud. I’m eternally grateful for all the support I’ve received in my career and research,” she said.
Sunny Gibson, director, Office of Minority and Cultural Affairs at the Feinberg School, welcomed all to the February 13 reception hosted by the Feinberg School of Medicine and partner Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. Sonja Boone, MD, director, Office of Diversity, and medical director, physician recruitment at NMH, made remarks underscoring the hospital management’s commitment to increasing diversity in the physicians it hires. As proof, she said that the number of African American and Latino doctors at NMH has increased 147 percent since 1999.
J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, vice president for medical affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean of the medical school, spoke about the importance of stories shared through history in giving young people hope and a vision for what has been accomplished as well as what they can accomplish.
Another notable, Northwestern University’s first African American medical school graduate, Daniel Hale Williams, MD, is also honored in this exhibit. After his 1883 graduation, he later founded Provident Hospital in Chicago.