Tennessee Voices, Episode 330: Dr. James Hildreth and Dr. Andre Churchwell
Welcome to the 2023 season of the Tennessee Voices video podcast show. In every episode I interview compelling people in the community who are making a difference in their fields and in the world.
My guests today are Dr. James Hildreth and Dr. Andre Churchwell. Both men are physicians.
Hildreth is president of Meharry Medical College, one of Tennessee's seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The school has a long history of training Black doctors in the U.S.
Churchwell is vice chancellor of outreach, inclusion and belonging and chief diversity officer for Vanderbilt University.
On this episode of the pod, we discussed the challenges of graduating more Black medical doctors in America. We also conversed about the state of equity (and inequities) in health care with a frank talk about social determinants of health. Those are the factors in the lives of people, such as, income, background, economic stability, lived experiences, etc., that may make them prone to experiencing worse health outcomes.
My guests also talked about their concerns about politics overtaking scientific research and consensus on issues such as vaccines for COVID.
Additionally, we addressed the issues of bias and lack of inclusion in education.
You will also learn about what they have been reading lately to keep healthy and sane.
Related column by Dr. James Hildreth:How participation in local clinical trials for COVID vaccine can save children | Opinion
Related column by Dr. Andre Churchwell:Discrimination and Disparities in Health: Examination of racial inequality in Nashville | Opinion
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About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
Watch past episodes:Tennessee Voices videocast
Please email your ideas for future guests to me at [email protected]. Thank you for watching.
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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Voices: Meharry's James Hildreth, Vandy's Andre Churchwell
