For students and professionals drawn to careers in the
sciences, medicine, or medical and pharmaceutical research, there are
bountiful opportunities among large companies in both the private and
public sectors. Just as available, perhaps less obvious, are opportunities
for careers in administration and education.
Among government agencies, two of the most pervasive and multidisciplinary
are the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for
Disease Control (CDC. Perhaps because they are frequently in the news,
they’re on the “hot” list for many industry hopefuls.
And, perhaps because of that distinction, as well as being under the
spotlight, their leadership cultures actually look for change. They
have also put programs in place to support non-majority cultures.
The obvious industry for medical professionals is the hospital environment
and while a plethora of opportunities exist in that arena, the African-American
presence among physicians and surgeons in private hospitals is sparse,
and efforts to diversify are still gaining momentum. In the lead is
Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWA) in Boston, MA, perhaps the
most multicultural major teaching hospital in the country.
The career paths of Antonia J. Henry, MD; Kimberly Holden; and Charlotte
Pate took them to BWH, FDA, and CDC respectively, and those journeys
are diversity stories in themselves. Through each one, however, runs
the common thread of appreciation for early mentors and a passion to
create opportunity for African Americans, whether underrepresented in
biomedical/pharmaceutical industries or overrepresented in disease populations.
Antonia J. Henry,
Compassion Drives Resident
At Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Antonia J. Henry entered the residency program at BWH, a Harvard University
affiliate, in the general surgery specialty after earning an MD degree
in 2006 from Harvard Medical School, which she attended on a full U.S.
Navy Health Professions Scholarship. Henry has been a standout throughout
her academic career, earning her bachelor’s degree with distinction
in microbiology at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Narrowly
missing a Rhodes scholarship award for medical school, she placed as
a finalist. Among Henry’s talents are writing and she is the author
of “Taking my Place in Medicine,” published by Algonquin
in 2006, and excerpted in The Boston Globe magazine.
Henry has taken responsibility for her gifts by giving back in many
ways throughout her young adulthood. While in medical school, she served
two years on the student council, and throughout the four years worked
with faculty and students to address diversity in admissions, curricula,
and teaching faculty through the multicultural fellows committee. Today,
as a busy second-year resident at one of the nation’s premier
teaching hospitals, she finds time to mentor African-American medical
students.
Henry considers her fortunate to have been chosen to be one of seven
residents selected for the general surgery specialty at BWH. The assignment
of medical school graduates to hospitals is primarily data-based, guided
by the National Residency Match Program, which drew about 3,0000 applicants,
to BWH’s program. “BWH interviewed 100 people for the seven
spots. It helped that I had gone to medical school at Harvard because
I was known.”
According to BWH, the hospital is New England’s largest birthing
center and a regional leader in high-risk obstetrics and newborn care.
The hospital receives almost one million ambulatory visits and over
50,000 emergency visits annually. BHW employs more than 12,000 people
including 3,000 physicians, fellows, and residents, over 1,000 researchers,
and 2,800 nurses. In addition to being the regional leader in preeminent
women’s health services, BWH is also one of the nation’s
leading transplant centers, performing heart, lung, kidney, and heart-lung
transplant surgery, as well as bone marrow transplantation. BWH is also
nationally recognized for clinical and research excellence in cardiovascular
medicine, neurosciences, arthritis and rheumatic disorders, orthopedics,
and cancer care through the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer
Center.”
Henry adds that the hospital is also the most diverse of any she visited—in
New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC—while
interviewing for a residency program. Nevertheless, among 49 residents,
only four are African American.
Henry works with top-tier physicians and researchers. Until the end
of her third year of clinical training, she will be classified as a
junior resident, responsible for patient care pre-operatively and post-operatively.
“The focus of the second year is the intensive care unit in either
general surgery, trauma, and burns or cardiac surgery,” she states.
“The structure of a residency is hierarchical. As a junior resident,
I report to a chief resident who is in the fifth clinical year, and/or
to the fellow, who is a physician who has finished general surgery residency
and is in specialty training.”
At times, that protocol is challenging for the wrong reasons. In spite
of working among some of the brightest minds in the country, Henry experiences
a culture gap in her environment. There’s a resistance in the
medical field that’s largely gender-based, especially in surgery,
which has traditionally been the domain of white males, which puts even
more pressure on African-American women residents to ensure they are
evaluated for their skills and professionalism.
Henry has an astute outlook on that inconsistency, saying change takes
time, and that her greatest potential as a healer right now is to contribute
to a patient population that does make her heritage relevant. “The
reason I chose vascular surgery is that during the time of my internship,
most of my African-American and Hispanic patients have been in the vascular
surgery unit because they have many of the diseases that are overrepresented
in our community, especially untreated uncontrolled high blood pressure,
diabetes, and peripheral vascular disease,” comments Henry. “The
outcomes also are worse for those populations partly because they have
decreased access to healthcare. So, I was excited to take care of that
patient population and be able to see them through their operations
and the post-operative course on the way back to health.”
Henry’s long-term vision after completing her residency at BWH
is to stay in a large urban area and work as a vascular surgeon in a
teaching hospital where specialists treat all patients, whether or not
they have insurance or the ability to pay standard fee rates.
Kimberly Holden,
Bringing The “Right Stuff”
To U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Kimberly Holden is assistant commissioner for management in the office
of the commissioner, U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). As a
senior executive, she has gained several promotions since joining the
agency in 1995, after a nine-year career with the U.S. Department of
Labor (DOL).
Holden, who earned a degree in public administration from the University
of the District of Columbia, an historically black college, started
her federal career in 1984 as a student intern, which paid her tuition
as long as she agreed to stay and work for DOL for two years after graduation,
which she says she was happy to do.
Holden adds it was not the paid tuition that motivated her to join the
DOL program. “College was not anything that I saw in my future.
I wanted to go right into a retail training program to be a fashion
merchandise buyer, and it wasn’t until my counselor said ‘Look,
you’re in the top 10% of your graduating class, I have not seen
you in my office, and you haven’t completed any applications for
college or internship applications.’ So, when she showed me the
brochure for the DOL internship program that promoted public service,
which was something in which I was interested, I was able to see that
yes, I did need to go to college.”
Taking an opportunity that seemed vastly different from her goals actually
turned out to be a wise choice for Holden because working at DOT clued
her in to what she liked about work, whether it was in a store or in
a government office. “I’ve always liked to be around people,
and while I am an introvert, being able to talk to people and help them
make decisions whether it’s on careers or clothing is something
I enjoy,” she remarks.
One of the benefits of the federal employment structure is its clearly
defined expectations and the methodical path to achievement. Just as
she steadily climbed the ladder at DOL, leaving as a grade-12 employee,
working with the FDA has been a steady climb to the top. Holden found
her way to the FDA by chance through a colleague who told her about
open job opportunities. “I applied and luckily was accepted,”
she recalls. “When I came to work for the FDA, I had some incredible
challenges.”
The FDA protects the public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy,
and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical
devices, the nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that
emit radiation. The FDA advances the public health by helping to speed
innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and
more affordable and helps the public get the accurate, science-based
information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.
All of that responsibility requires many doctors, scientists, and researchers
and Holden is now at the top of the ladder that supports them. From
the beginning, Holden showed a talent to find the right people and bring
them on board, and one of her first accomplishments was bringing on
one of the FDA’s first biomedical research scientists, Dr. Larry
Kessler, for the FDA’s Center for Devices for Radiological Health.
Once he was hired, he asked Holden to help him get his organization
up and running. “I came on in May and had until October 1 to get
a little more than a dozen positions filled for him,” she remembers.
With one exception she met the goal.
“From that experience, I was able to see what FDA actually does
and I came to appreciate the mission of FDA even more than I already
did,” she remarks. Six months later, Holden was promoted to policy
specialist in the division of recruitment and staffing, and that sparked
the attention that would bring her recognition as a valuable asset to
the organization. “It seems like ever since I stepped foot in
FDA, every few years another opportunity was presented to me to move
upward,” she declares.
While Holden praises the FDA for continually giving her opportunities
to advance, she would like to see more African Americans in senior executive
positions. “In my experience, there’s definitely room for
improvement in hiring members of minority groups. We do have a good
diverse representation of scientists in our workforce, but not in our
senior executive level,” she states.
To its credit, according to Holden, FDA’s leadership acknowledges
changes need to be made, and has done something about it. “Andrew
von Eschenbach, FDA commissioner, embraced the idea to sponsor a diversity
council of volunteers across the agency,” she says. The council
implemented interactive diversity summits in 2005 that are broadcast
by satellite to employees who can E-mail and FAX questions to the panel
during discussions. The broadcasts have been successful and Holden has
seen some changes come out of the discussions. “We have been able
to increase our Hispanic representation across the agency,” she
remarks.
Holden’s future vision is to continue to provide critical administrative
support at FDA. “I’m not one of the scientists who approve
the drugs or medical devices that are on the market. I provide support
to those people so being able to give them answers on how to hire a
person or how to get a position established is satisfying. The administrative
support is critical. One of my primary responsibilities is to maintain
and managing FDA’s human capital and ensure we have programs in
place to bring on interns and fellows.”
She continues, “I am the liaison with our human resources office,
which reports to the office of the secretary. I make sure the department
has programs and processes in place to quickly and efficiently bring
on the types of people we need to hire at FDA. I oversee our office
of shared services, which has responsibilities for contracts and acquisitions
and grants. Another project for which I’m responsible is agency-wide
succession planning that will be critical for FDA and other agencies
across government. The purpose is to line up people to ensure we have
people in place when others retire. Over the next five years, about
30% of our managers could walk out the door and we are responsible to
develop a succession plan to fill those positions.”
Holden concedes she does have a tremendous amount of responsibility.
“I’ve always been career focused so I like to have variety
and that’s what keeps me going,” she concludes.
Charlotte Pate,
Health Communicator Thrives
On Challenge At Center For Disease Control And Prevention
Charlotte Pate started working at CDC, Special Pathogens Branch (SPB),
in 2003, as an intern just two weeks after completing a bachelor’s
degree in health sciences, community health option, from California
State University Fresno (CSUF). The internship was offered through the
Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE) internship program
for students of minority-serving institutions. CSUF is one of over two-dozen
colleges and universities that are federally designated minority-serving
institutions.
CDC by the nature of its work has a stake in the nurturing of students
who represent underserved populations. In 1998, the organization began
to work closely with the Minority Health Work Group (MHWG) to further
activities that proactively address health issues that impact racial
and ethnic communities. The overarching goal of the work group is to
provide public health education and health promotion leadership to national,
state, local, and territorial health agencies and organizations addressing
public health issues of racial and ethnic minority populations.
Pate says she has felt no advantages or disadvantages as an African-American
woman working at CDC, but at the same time, she praises the women who
came before her. “There are many women in public health who are
great, awesome, phenomenal, and that’s where we are. In their
era, it probably was different from when I graduated,” she declares.
Pate found a perfect match at CDC with her career goal once she defined
it. As an entering freshman she neither wasn’t sure exactly what
she wanted to study nor did she know about the DHPE internship. At the
urging of a friend, she took the advice of a professor and attended
a job fair that put her in the right place at the right time. At the
fair, she met DHPE staff and decided to apply for the internship. “If
I hadn’t gone to the career fair, I probably would never have
made it to CDC,” says Pate, who was one of six candidates selected
nationwide for the internships.
“Once I completed the internship, the Special Pathogens Branch
retained me on a renewable fellowship through the Oak Ridge Institute
for Science and Education, ORISE, which just ended. I currently work
as a health communicator for unexplained dermopathy, skin diseases,
in the National Center for Zoonotic Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases,”
she explains. Malaria, transferred by mosquitoes, is an example of a
vector-borne disease.
Pate’s job responsibilities are varied and depending on the specific
project, she may report to different CDC staff. Her regular duties include
developing content and written material for unexplained dermopathy Website,
including frequently asked questions (FAQs); monitoring regularly Internet
and other media sources for relevant information; tracking disease inquiries
in a database for future evaluation; and maintaining files and electronic
databases.
Working at CDC became a goal of Pate’s while she was in college.
Some of her professors made sure students scoured the CDC Website and
she read or heard information about its scientists who were like celebrities
to her. “I still can’t believe I’m here,” she
says.
Pate’s experience at CDC has been positive and she has felt no
disadvantages or advantages in being an African-American woman. The
agency promotes multicultural awareness. A diversity executive steering
committee at CDC collaborates with the chief diversity office to promote
diversity agency-wide. One initiative is a voluntary diversity-training
program, which presents video courses on different cultures and generations.
Pate attended one and enjoyed it. “Participation is high,”
she adds.
Pate grew up the youngest of three children in a low-income one-parent
family and became the first college student in her family’s history.
In addition to her mother’s encouragement, a lot of the emotional
and logistical support came from her coaches. “I was an athlete
in high school,” recalls Pate. “Everybody knew me as the
athlete. I played volleyball, basketball, and ran track and I was good
at all of them. I was a good student.” Pate didn’t pursue
a sports scholarship because she just wanted to concentrate on studying,
but in a way, sports were still her ticket to a higher education. “Being
an athlete and surrounded by positive people and able to network and
talk to coaches about hopes and dreams and college instead of going
straight home after school made me believe I could do it.”
Pate’s commitment to enhance health and health awareness in the
African-American community extends beyond her workday into hands-on
activities. “I volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and with
a nonprofit, ‘I Am Beautiful’ dedicated to building self-esteem
in women and girls ten to19. I enjoy encouraging young girls to live
their dream and do their best and talk about things they wouldn’t
want to talk about to their parents, such as saying no to drugs or peer
pressure I’m passionate about that organization.”
Pate’s future plans are to stay in public health. Next on her
agenda is to earn a health education specialist certification, and then
a master’s degree in public health. She has a long-term goal,
as well. “I have this vision to open or establish my own small
health clinics for teens, young adults, and families and the focus would
be education. We would teach them about personal health, disease prevention,
and lifestyle choices,” she concludes.
