Ernest Barthelemy, MD, and Ian McNeill, MD, (left and right center, respectively) with students who participated in a six-week clinical program in neurosurgery, from left: Saimon Acevedo, Roydon Rodrigues, Alexis Rodriguez, and Jonathan Joasil.
Since 1975, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Center for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE) has been preparing minority and disadvantaged youth for careers in science and medicine. This year’s annual summer research and clinical internship programs attracted a record number of 108 high school students from across New York City with hands-on classes in Fruit Fly Genetics and Genomics, and Nanotechnology, for example, along with a new clinical offering for young men of color: participation in a six-week clinical rotation in neurosurgery. Doctors Reaching Minority Males Exploring Neuroscience (Dr. MMEN), a partnership between CEYE and the Department of Neurosurgery—with support from Joshua B. Bederson, MD, Chair, Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai Health System—was led by Ian McNeill, MD, PGY-5 neurosurgery resident, and Ernest Barthelemy, MD, PGY-4 neurosurgery resident. “The number of African American men who applied to medical school in 2014 was actually less than the number who applied in 1978,” says CEYE Program Director, Alyson Davis, LMSW, “which is why specific and targeted interventions like this are needed.” In addition to rotations in the operating room, the neurosurgery intensive care unit, and outpatient office hours, the four Dr. MMEN students participated in weekly seminars led by Dr. McNeill that explored topics such as mental health and wellness, vision and goal-setting, and handling racism and bias as they pursue a professional career. Says participant Jonathan Joasil: “Dr. McNeill and the Department of Neurosurgery have given us an opportunity to stand out. They have empowered us to think that we can go anywhere.”