Mount Sinai Pediatric residents at the March in Manhattan. From left: Stephanie Bernard, MD; Reuth Nir, MD; Svetlana Azova, MD; and Gabriela Llaurador, MD.
Medical students, physicians, and staff from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai were among tens of thousands of people who participated in the March for Our Lives in Manhattan, on Saturday, March 24, to support tighter gun control legislation. The March was among more than 800 such marches that took place across the United States. Reuth Nir, MD, Pediatric Resident at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai, who helped organize the physicians who took part in the March along Central Park West, said the medical professionals who participated in their white coats sent a “powerful” message. “Gun violence is a serious public health crisis that needs to be urgently addressed by doctors, who are knowledgeable on the subject and invested in their patients’ safety and well-being,” she said.
Medical students Tyler McChane, Yash Maniar, and Christian Cayon helped lead the effort on the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai campus. They pointed out that the medical profession has worked with legislators to curtail public health threats that include automobile safety and infectious diseases, and the same could be done through research, legislation, and critical conversations about the role of guns in our society.