Geisinger Commonwealth students attend 2018 Racism in Medicine Conference

On Nov. 17, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) faculty member, Dr. Vicki Sapp, and 23 GCSOM students traveled to Drexel University’s College of Medicine to attend the 2018 Racism in Medicine Conference.

Since 2015, medical students from Pennsylvania and New Jersey have collaborated to host the conference, whose purpose is to provide an opportunity for people in healthcare or related fields to examine the ways that racism affects the health of marginalized people and to develop strategies to oppose it.

It is the second year GCSOM has participated and the first year that a GCSOM faculty member presented and a GCSOM student, Ashanti Littlejohn, was appointed to the Inter School Planning Committee.

Loren Robinson, MD, deputy secretary for health promotion and disease prevention for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, delivered the keynote address, “Racism as a Social Determinant of Health.” Vicki T. Sapp, PhD, GCSOM’s director of student engagement, diversity and inclusion, presented a break-out session entitled, “Understanding and Interrupting Microaggressions in Medical School Education.” Other speakers included Dorothy Roberts, JD, an acclaimed scholar of race, gender and law who is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Sharrelle Barber, ScD, MPH, assistant research professor, epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.

Geisinger Commonwealth co-sponsored the conference together with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

About Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) is a member of the Geisinger family. GCSOM offers a community-based model of medical education with campuses in Danville, Lewistown, Scranton, Sayre and Wilkes-Barre. Geisinger Commonwealth offers Doctor of Medicine (MD) and a portfolio of graduate degrees. The school’s innovative curriculum, focused on caring for people in the context of their lives and their community, attracts the next generation of physicians and scientists from within its region, as well as from across the state and the nation. Geisinger Commonwealth is committed to non-discrimination in all employment and educational opportunities. Visit www.geisinger.edu/gcsom.

About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 126 care sites — including 10 hospital campuses — and Geisinger Health Plan, with more than half a million members in commercial and government plans. Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,700 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $15 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.