Navigating Social Injustices as Women of Color in Academic Medicine

Navigating Social Injustices as Women of Color in Academic Medicine

You’re invited to join the Association of Medicine and Phsychiatry for this installment of our AMP Webinar Series: Navigating Social Injustices as Women of Color in Academic Medicine. 

Presentation Objectives: 

• To ENLIGHTEN those who may be unfamiliar with the struggles related to promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
• To AFFIRM the experience of those who are carrying the burden of promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
• To BEGIN the conversation of “how do we move forward” in promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry and at our respective institutions.

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021

Time: 5:00 pm PDT/8:00 pm EDT

Format: LIVE

Cost: Members: FREE | Non-members $25 

Speakers: 

E. Vanessa Spearman-McCarthy, MD

Dr. E. Vanessa Spearman-McCarthy, an Augusta native, is an honor graduate of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School. She earned her undergraduate degree at Spelman College in 2001 and her medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University in 2005.

Upon completion of her undergraduate medical education, she trained in the Combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry Residency Program at the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, SC). During her last year of training she served as Chief Resident.

Following the completion of training, Dr. Spearman-McCarthy joined the faculty at Augusta University as an Assistant Professor with dual appointments in the departments of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry in October 2010. She currently serves as the Medical Director of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Service, as an Outpatient Internal Medicine Attending, and as one of the core faculty members in the Essentials of Clinical Medicine Phase I/Phase II courses. She has also served as the Clinical Advisor for the Student National Medical Association for the last 10 years, and is the Co-Chair of the MCG Faculty Senate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.   Her dedication to the mission of clinical education, service and teaching have most recently afforded her the following awards and recognitions: 2017 Exemplary Teacher Award, 2017 Gold Humanism in Medicine Faculty Inductee, 2017 Medical College of Georgia Faculty Senate Patient Care Award, 2017 Augusta University Department of Psychiatry Faculty Award, 2018 Gold Humanism in Medicine Induction Ceremony Keynote Speaker, the 2019 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, the 2019 Association of Medicine and Psychiatry Roger Kathol Pioneering Spirit Award, the 2020 Augusta University Health Patient and Family Centered Care Impact Award, 2020 Election to Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, a 2020 Exemplary Teacher Award,  and a 2021 Exemplary Teaching Award.  Most recently she was promoted to Associate Professor, effective July 2021.

Dr. Spearman-McCarthy is a lifelong member of Bethel AME Church (Augusta, GA), where she serves as member of the Women’s Missionary Society Young Adult Ministry and a member of the Health Commission. She also is a Lifetime Member of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College, currently serving as the President of the NAASC Augusta Chapter, as an NAASC SE Region Delegate to the Executive Committee, and as a the Chair of the NAASC Health and Wellness Committee. In 2019, she was elected Counselor for the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry.  In 2016 she was elected to serve on the Board Directors of the Medical College of Georgia Alumni Association and is currently serving a second term.  Additionally she serves on the Board of Directors of the Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club.  When not engaged in clinical and professional activities, Dr. Spearman-McCarthy enjoys being actively engaged in community service, mentoring youth, participating in activities at her church, spending time with family, and playing clarinet in the Augusta Concert Band.

She is happily married to Charles E. McCarthy, a Pharmaceutical Process Engineer and Facilities Manager at AmbioPharm, Inc. They have one son named Benedict.
 

Heather Huang, MD

Dr. Heather Huang is a combined trained physician, double boarded in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry.  She has additional training from the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis in their adult psychoanalytic psychotherapy program.

Dr. Huang serves as the medical director for the UW Health Collaborative Care model, which integrates behavioral health services into primary care clinics.  She is chair for several of the Department’s conferences, including the Educational Conference series and Women’s Mental Health conference.

Dr. Huang is an active member in the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry, serving as the chair of the membership committee for 5 years and as a council member since 2011.  She was awarded the prestigious Roger Kathol Pioneering Spirit Award in 2018, in recognition for her excellence in integrated care.

Moderator: 

Martha Ward, MD

Martha Ward, MD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Ward’s clinical work is focused on improving medical and psychiatric outcomes of individuals with serious mental illness through integrated care. Dr. Ward is the Medical Director of Park Place Primary Care, a collaborative primary care clinic located in the Behavioral Health Outpatient center at Grady Memorial Hospital. In this clinic, she serves the complex medical and psychiatric needs of patients that previously had no continuity of medical care and provides a unique training opportunity for students and residents. Additionally, Dr. Ward is passionate about medical education. In UME, she provides faculty development to optimize the ability of faculty to support the wellbeing of medical trainees. She also serves as Society Mentor and Small Group Advisor in the Osler Society, is Associate Course Director for the Essentials of Patient Care course (a 4-year longitudinal clinical skills course), and serves as Co-Chair of the Admissions Committee. In her work with GME, she serves as Associate Program Director for the Combined Internal Medicine- Psychiatry Residency at Emory. 

Dr. Ward has been an active member of AMP since 2011. She was selected as a winner of the Innovations in Integrated Care competition in 2015, was awarded the inaugural Roger Kathol Pioneering Spirit Award for Early Career Physicians in 2017, and was honored with the AMP Outstanding Service Award in 2018. She served as Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee from 2017-2019, and is the current President-Elect of AMP.