Students of Temple University (Lewis Katz School of Medicine) write about their "Firsts" in Medicine by Michael Vitez

Ebunoluwa Olawole

 

Contribution by Ebunoluwa Olawole, LKSOM class of 2023

As an immigrant from Nigeria, I felt prepared for the new challenges in medical school because adapting to new situations has become second nature to me. Alas, I was wrong. Nothing prepared me for my first experience with a Black cadaver. My assigned donor was a white male who became my first patient and teacher. I learned so much from him: the intricate details of the muscles of the leg; the diverse functions of the nerves in the brain; and the complicated, yet majestic body processes.

However, I had a very different experience when I saw a Black donor for the first time at another anatomy table. I stood at his table and could not move; the room became quieter. For minutes, I could not pinpoint the strangeness I felt. And then the thought came to me: He had the same shade of black as my father and suddenly the donor became real to me.

I imagined how much the Black donor must have trusted the institution, to donate his body, considering the lack of trust that exists between many African Americans and healthcare practitioners. Then I thought that while I knew nothing about this particular donor, we must have shared similar experiences based on the color of our skin, with his being much worse than mine. For instance, I imagined that he must have suffered the effects of Segregation in the 1960s in a way I never have had to experience. This reminded me of the privilege I have as a medical student in my institution.

I pondered the fact that while his skin was very different from that of my assigned White donor, the internal biological features of the two donors were the same. I asked myself why would society treat people so differently merely on the basis of skin-color, when nature had so obviously designed the human anatomy to be the same, irrespective of exterior skin-color? This fact could not have been clearer with these two donors on our anatomy table.

I am inspired by the Black donor’s trust in medicine and I am determined to work with every community I serve and find ways to improve the trust and relationship between African Americans and healthcare practitioners. My experience with the Black cadaver humanized my view during my entire anatomy course. This will be a constant reminder of the humanity in medicine throughout my medical journey.

Michael Vitez, winner of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism at The Philadelphia Inquirer, is the director of narrative medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.