Medical Bridge

Minority Males in Medicine

Alamance Community College invites you to a Zoom Speaker Series Personal Pathways for Professions: Medical Bridge/Minority Males in Medicine.

Personal Pathways brings inspirational stories of how men of color overcame obstacles to become regional and national leaders in medical professions.

The event is free and open to the public.

Although the Personal Pathways to Professions series is targeted at minority males, it is open to all male middle and high school students in Alamance County. 

When: Began July 20, 2020, 7:00 PM, and continued every Monday for eight weeks.
Final Event:  Monday, September 7, 2020 @ 7pm
After Registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

Participants attending the zoom meeting enter a drawing for a $20 Amazon Gift Card – awarded at the end of the session.

About Medical Bridge: Minority Males in Medicine

The goal of Alamance Community College’s Medical Bridge: Minority Males in Medicine program is to get more Alamance County minority boys on track to medical careers as dentists, doctors, or other health professionals.

Before the Coronavirus, Medical Bridge sponsored a three-week summer camp consisting of hands-on science activities, writing, mentoring, and field trips to regional medical centers, universities, and laboratories such as Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, NC Central University, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.  The program also provides year-round professional and science enrichment workshops. Medical Bridge is a partnership with Alamance Burlington School System and UNC-Chapel Hill Medical School.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund provided a grant for the operation of Medical Bridge. 

For more information, contact Scott Doron at scott.doron@alamancecc.edu.

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ACC to Deliver ‘Virtual’ Medical Bridge Camp to Young Males

Alamance Community College will continue the popular Medical Bridge: Minority Males in Medicine camp, now in its fourth year, as a virtual experience for eight weeks this summer.

The goal of Alamance Community College’s Medical Bridge: Minority Males in Medicine program is to get more Alamance County minority boys on track to medical careers as dentists, doctors, or other health professionals. In the past, Medical Bridge sponsored a three-week summer camp on the ACC campus consisting of hands-on science activities, writing, mentoring, and field trips to regional medical centers, universities, and laboratories such as Duke University and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The program also provides year-round professional and science enrichment workshops.

One of the key events is the Personal Pathways to Professions. Medical Bridge addresses the misleading “belief gap”—that minority boys who look like them cannot be medical professionals. Personal Pathways events show how men of color became successful professionals. 

Although the Personal Pathways to Professions segment is targeted at minority males, it is open to all male middle and high school students in Alamance County.  (Register now by clicking here.)

Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the College redesigned all Medical Bridge activities. ACC now has a virtual camp with online activities, including experiments, subject instruction, and personal development. Prior to the beginning of camp on July 20, participants will receive science kits to use in conjunction with the online instruction.

Medical Bridge is a partnership with Alamance Burlington School System and UNC-Chapel Hill Medical School.  In 2019, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund awarded a $168,000 grant for three years to support the program. The program began in 2017 with 40 boys from 6^th through 8^th grades and expanded to 84 boys from 6^th to 12^th grades in 2020.

The College has worked with Alamance-Burlington Schools to provide web access to campers whose internet resources are limited or non-existent.

Details of Summer 2020 Personal Pathways

• Every Monday at 7:00 pm for eight weeks beginning July 20, a male medical professional of color will describe his pathway to success via Zoom.
• The talks will be open to all boys in Alamance County, but especially targeted at minority males in middle and/or high school. Parents can also watch the presentation.
• The maximum Zoom online attendance is 300.
• The talks last one hour: a 45-minute presentation, followed by 15 minutes of questions through chat.
• ACC will distribute essential books, articles, or suggest movies from speakers.
• Guest speakers include Dr. Damon Tweedy of Duke University, author of “Black Men in White Coats.” Youth campers will each receive a copy of the book. Dr. Tweedy is scheduled to speak in August.

Register here!

For more information, contact Scott Doron at scott.doron@alamancecc.edu.

Past Speakers Include:

July 27, 2020: Dr. Derrick Morton, Ph.D., who recently joined Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine from Emory University, where he completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Biology.
August 3, 2020: Dr. Garza Lopez, who received his Ph.D. degree in Cell Biology in the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City with Dr. Ricardo Felix.	August 10, 2020: Dr. Catherine Dinitra White PhD is an Associate Professor of Biology at NC A&T University.  She joins us to  discuss resiliency – overcoming obstacles on the way to professional success.
August 17, 2020: Dr. Damon Tweedy, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, staff physician at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health System, and author of “Black Man in a White Coat”.	August 24, 2020: Dr. Terry Gordon, who has been a medical director, a consultant, a clinician, and a Director of Management and Budget Analysis for the U.S. Air Force. He received his medical degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and did graduate training at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Michigan. He also earned an MBA at Indiana University Graduate School of Business. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
August 31, 2020: Dr. Jay Wyatt, who after 20 years of being the Director of trauma at Moses Cone Hospital, retired from surgery and accepted the position of Chief Medical Officer at Moses Cone Hospital in January of 2020.