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![\"Bianca](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/advancement\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/MW011822UR_0194-219x300.jpg\")
Bianca Audrey Duah \u201924M (MD)<\/p><\/div>\n
Bianca Audrey Duah\u2019s family came from Ghana, West Africa. She grew up in New York City and was always encouraged to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or nurse, as were so many of her friends and neighbors.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the children of immigrants, it\u2019s often impressed upon us that these are the specific careers that will provide us social and economic mobility and security,\u201d says Duah, a second-year medical student at the University of Rochester\u2019s School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). \u201cAnd, that\u2019s what our parents want for us\u2014to have a better life than they did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Visiting Ghana as a child affirmed her interest in medicine. She noticed that those in her primarily Black, Brown, and African-Caribbean neighborhood were getting the same kinds of illnesses and subsequently similar care as those in Ghana. She wanted to know why people in poorer communities suffered in the same ways.<\/p>\n
When Duah was a teenager, people recognized her potential. In high school, she applied and was given a four-year college scholarship from The New York Times<\/em>, which also gave her the opportunity to intern at the flagship newspaper the summer before college. She then attended Brown University, where she was awarded a second scholarship funded by generous donors. She left college debt-free and confident that she\u2019d pursue medicine.<\/p>\n \u201cMedical school is a distinctive experience\u2014you can\u2019t work, and you have to rely on others,\u201d she says. \u201cI owe so much to my medical school scholarship donors, who are making it possible for people like me to become physicians. Someday, I want to establish a scholarship in my name so that finances won\u2019t be the barrier that prevents someone from realizing their academic and career goals.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Duah had a lot of first-hand experience with medicine, too. Her mother and younger brother have struggled with chronic illnesses for years. As their primary caretaker, she\u2019s gained insight into the health care system.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen patients and their families talk about dealing with something really hard, I can relate to them,\u201d she says. \u201cI know what it\u2019s like to hustle, persevere, and wait, which happens so often when you are personally dealing with illness, diagnosis, and treatment.\u201d She adds that SMD\u2019s biopsychosocial model<\/a> resonated with her from the beginning\u2014an approach rooted in understanding and treating the whole person.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m from a low-income, underserved community where people stepped up to help others because they struggled, too,\u201d she adds. For instance, Duah, who speaks Twi, did a lot of interpreting for her neighbors.<\/p>\n Today, she is applying the same model of service to her medical education\u2014and she\u2019s doing whatever she can to blossom where she is and to help others do the same. For instance, she\u2019s SMD\u2019s chapter president for the Student National Medical Association<\/a> (SNMA), a group that is comprised of underrepresented medical students. It provides them support, advocacy, and community.<\/p>\n Duah\u2019s also involved in a joint SNMA and Latino Medical School Association medical clinic held twice a month at St. Luke\u2019s Church called Belton Health Clinic in downtown Rochester. \u201cBlack, Brown, and Latino students provide acute care, physicals, and counsel to those in the community who don\u2019t have access, time or other resources,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s all free and all student-led\u2014we are literally meeting people where they are to provide them with needed health care.\u201d<\/p>\n The same students also work with Rochester\u2019s Agape Haven of Abundance<\/a>, a local organization that strives to reduce poverty by providing food security, health education, and emotional support services to disenfranchised community members. They partner to provide blood pressure screenings, COVID vaccine information, and other support to the community.<\/p>\n Duah wants to ensure that women, especially Black and Brown women, feel like they have a place in medicine and in the professional community. To help do this, Duah\u2019s part of a pipeline project at the Cheryl Speranza Leadership Institute at Our Lady of Mercy<\/a>, an all-girls private Catholic high school in Rochester. The project offers a small cohort of underrepresented girls an opportunity to attend the high school free of charge.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to their core high school curriculum, the girls also get leadership training, connected with various support services, and plugged in the pre-college activities like ones we have at SMD and on the River Campus,\u201d she says. \u201cThey get exposed to research and gain experiences they might not have had otherwise. As a mentor in the program, I want them to see that they can be a Black woman and a medical student\u2014that they can be whatever they want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, Duah is drawn to a career in orthopaedic surgery, a traditionally white, male- dominated field. That isn\u2019t stopping her though. This summer, she\u2019s learning all she can about it. She\u2019s currently working with Rishi Balkissoon, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at URMC, through the Nth Dimensions<\/a> program, which focuses on increasing the number of Black and Brown physicians in orthopedic surgery, radiology and dermatology. She shadows Dr. Balkissoon in clinic and in the operating room and conducts research with him.<\/p>\n \u201cBianca\u2019s level of maturity and perspective makes her a certain shining star as a future physician,\u201d says Balkissoon. \u201cShe has a passion for medicine and patient care and an excitement for learning that elevates those around her. I\u2019m hopeful that she maintains her interest in orthopaedic surgery, as I would be pleased to see her as a future colleague.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, Duah has also shadowed physicians at Wilmot Cancer Institute, where she learned more about the field of oncology as part of the American Society of Clinical Oncology\u2019s summer internship program. She\u2019s struck by the amount of attention they give her, and how focused they are on their patients and on teaching her and others at the same time.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not all. Duah is also interested in narrative medicine, an approach that uses people\u2019s narratives in clinical practice, research, and education as a way to promote healing. \u201cNarrative medicine is about looking through the lenses of patients and their families to understand what it\u2019s like to be sick, go through treatment, and be on the other side of MyChart.\u201d Narrative medicine, she adds, is aligned with the biopsychosocial model and has the potential to influence the quality of patient care.<\/p>\n When asked where she wants to be in five years, Duah replies, \u201cI hope to be in my second year of residency, learning to be a good doctor, and contributing to the health, happiness, and well-being of my patients.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”grid” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#e7e7e7″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_single_image image=”760762″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” mkd_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1649079987159{padding-left: 25px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1649075689607{padding-right: 25px !important;}”]\u201cMy husband, Dr. Bob Gulick, was so dedicated to his patients and to our family. I’m passionate about volunteerism, and Bob always supported me and shared his experiences with me. It is with great pride that this scholarship for a medical student supports our goals. Because Bianca is not burdened with debt, she is able to pursue her interests\u2014such as conducting research in her future specialty and creating a mentorship program\u2014beyond the challenging demands of a medical student.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n – Mary Gulick<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”grid” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#ffc70a” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1649075590060{padding-right: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;}”]Consider establishing or supporting a scholarship and help us continue to train exemplary leaders in medicine, regardless of their financial background. Your gift can change someone\u2019s life. Contact Melissa Head<\/a>, executive director of URMC academic programs, for more information.<\/em><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”20px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text fnt_family=”Roboto Condensed” fnt_size=”12″ css=”.vc_custom_1649079951311{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-top-color: #c4c4c4 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]<\/p>\nPersonal insights<\/h4>\n
Bloom where you are planted<\/h4>\n
Role model for young girls<\/h4>\n
Looking ahead<\/h4>\n