For this month’s “Resident Voice” column, I explore how emergency medicine residents are innovating the field of medicine in creative and diverse ways. I requested residents to submit descriptions of their innovations, and was enthused at the breadth of initiatives being undertaken by emergency medicine residents across the country. I hope these three different initiatives which encompass research, community outreach, and technologic innovations will inspire you to pursue your own innovations.

Starting a Nonprofit Organization

Sandra Coker, MD, PGY2, University of Chicago

My journey into medicine and to the founding of Black Girl White Coat surprisingly share a few things in common. I was the first in my family to pursue a career as an emergency physician, and I was also the first person I knew who had the audacity to start a nonprofit in the middle of it all. To be honest, I had no idea what to do, how to do it, or where to start with either endeavor. If we are being even more honest, I doubt I would have made it through undergraduate, medical school, and the nonprofit startup process if not for Google.

Despite my lack of experience and outside guidance, I always understood the incredible lack of people who looked like me doing the same jobs of which I dreamt.

My sole intention in founding Black Girl White Coat prior to beginning medical school in 2016 was to help provide resources and tools to Black students who either did not have the privilege of physician parents, resources to make their dreams come true, or the knowledge base to even get started. Studying human patterns shows us that we are most likely to become what we see and are surrounded by.1,2 Likewise, we have an easier time believing we can achieve something when we see other people who look like us achieve similar goals. This is a challenge for African American/Black and Latinx youth who grow up in communities where access to higher education comes at a much higher cost, mentorship is scarce, and exposure is limited.

In just five years, Black Girl White Coat has grown into a 501(c)3 organization that has helped over 600 Black and Latinx students through our mentorship program, awarded over $10,000 worth of scholarship to future health care professionals, and supplied numerous textbooks and other academic resources to those in need. Black and Latinx men and women are desperately needed to provide culturally competent quality care for a medical population that continues to grow in number and diversity. Support and representation have not previously been there; Black Girl White Coat exists to bridge that gap.