Episode 9: Conversation with Dr. Adebola Giwa on Race, Cultural Identity and Navigating the Field of Medicine as a Student and as a Practitioner

In 2016, I read a book titled Black Man in a White Coat: A doctor's reflections on Race and Medicine. In this book, Dr. Tweedy, an African American, detailed his experience as a black man in medicine from Medical school to residency and practicing medicine as a psychiatrist. Dr. Tweedy dealt with both in your face racism and prejudice to conscious and unconscious biases. Since I read this book, I always have been interested in discussing with a member of the African immigrant community or their children in medicine about their experience. I was so grateful that Ms. Olode, featured on this podcast in a later episode, who introduced me to Dr. Giwa. I wanted to know what it is like for an African immigrant or a child of an immigrant navigating through the field of medicine. Dr. Giwa is a Nigerian American raised in Brooklyn, NY. He attended the University of Notre Dame as a Pre-med and Spanish major for college and went to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine for medical school. He completed his Pediatrics Residency at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. He did his Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and currently works there as a physician-scientist. His research interests include bench and clinical Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) research. He also works as the Global Medical Monitor managing international clinical trials to treat people with Achondroplasia. In addition, he enjoys mentoring and service work doing international missions’ trips, participating in mentoring programs, and sponsoring a local Head Start school for low-income families with organizations such as the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) and the Notre Dame Alumni Association. He has received several awards for this work from his alma mater and medical institution for service and leadership.  In this episode, Dr. Giwa and I talked about his childhood experience and growing up in an Africa immigrant home. We talked about balancing between the two heritages, Africa and America, as well as black identity. Part of our discussion also focuses on navigating through academic life and social life in college, medical school and how his cultural upbringing benefits or hinders his fitting into the dominant culture in the spaces he finds himself. We talked about three major areas of specialty acceptable by Nigerian and many other African immigrants’ parents- Doctors, Lawyers, and engineers-should parents choose what their children study in college. We focus on Barriers faced by Afro-descendant students in medicine. What are the barriers for blacks and Hispanic students from becoming a doctor?  After officially becoming a doctor and as a black male, we dived into conversation on some of the structural racism Dr. Giwa may have experience as a doctor. These experiences may stem from the administration, the patients, and outside his practice. How has he balanced his profession with mental warfare in a system of implicit biases and racism? In the closing. Dr. Giwa gave excellent advice to aspiring students interested in medicine and parents of our community who may have aspiring students who may want to study medicine. Dr. Giwa’s importantly advised parents they should refrain from forcing their children into a specialty that may be difficult for their children or may not be their interest. Dr. Giwa emphasized the importunacy of family and community support for the children's career choices within our community. As we usually said on this forum, when we publicly discuss complex issues within our community, we are shredding away the stigma associated with uncomfortable dialogues, primarily focusing on race & immigrants experience. Dr. Giwa shared his experience as a black man in medicine. He talked about the rewards of becoming a doctor and the barriers faced by Afro-descendant students in medicine.