Opening Doors: RSOM Youth Summit Inspires Students to See Themselves in Healthcare

The call for a more diverse healthcare workforce often feels urgent, but at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM), it sounded personal as hundreds of young people met physicians, medical students and health professionals at the third annual Renaissance School of Medicine Youth Summit.

Held in collaboration with the Stony Brook Black Men in White Coats chapter, the November 13 event drew more than 500 third through twelfth grade students from Long Island and New York City who spent the day exploring careers in medicine, learning new skills and seeing role models who once stood where they stand now.

Sponsored by the RSOM, the Simons STEM Scholars program, and University and Medicine Community Relations, the summit featured a full schedule of hands-on workshops, panels and mentorship sessions. More than 100 faculty, staff and student volunteers helped guide the day, which included everything from ultrasound demonstrations to CPR lessons.

For many of the students, the summit offered something they rarely see in their daily lives: a room full of doctors and healthcare leaders who looked like them. That visibility is at the center of the Black Men in White Coats mission, which seeks to address a long-standing gap in the medical profession.

Only about 5.7 percent of physicians in the United States identify as Black or African American, despite making up an estimated 12 percent of the US population. The group’s Stony Brook chapter, founded in 2022, aims to show students that they belong in the field and can thrive in it.

“We focus on addressing the disparity present among the physician workforce today,” said Reinaldo Powell, a second-year medical student and president of the Stony Brook chapter. “There are very few individuals who look like me in these positions. I wanted to use this opportunity to show that it is possible, and to show these students that you being here today is a testament to your intelligence, determination and resilience.”

The summit opened with welcoming remarks from several university leaders who urged students to think boldly about their futures. Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Health Equity Officer for Stony Brook University and Health System Judith Brown Clarke encouraged them to envision themselves across every part of the Stony Brook campus that they had stepped onto that morning.

“You belong in college classrooms, labs, research, hospitals and leadership positions,” she said. “This is an invitation to picture yourself in a white coat. Let yourself be inspired, but most of all listen to your inner voice that says, ‘I can do this.’”

The message of belonging carried throughout the day as students explored fields beyond medical school. Dean of the School of Health Professions Stacy Jaffee Gropack described a broad range of roles they might consider, from clinical lab science to physical therapy and speech language pathology, and referenced the ‘Dare to Be’ flags hanging throughout the campus. “‘Dare to Be’ means having the courage to step into the unknown,” she said. “We need your ideas, your energy, your heart. Healthcare is a calling to improve lives.”

Workshops offered interactive activities to get hands-on experience in many fields. Students used ultrasound machines to locate veins and arteries on their peers, practiced pipetting in mock laboratory settings and tried out surgical gowning procedures and learned to perform CPR. Younger students operated a robotic surgery simulator where they used mechanical hands to pick up small objects and talked through what real surgeons do in operating rooms.

“The students love the interactive sessions,” said Dontae Teuton, a third-year medical student and community outreach coordinator for the Black Men in White Coats chapter. “We show them how to use ultrasound, teach them about reflexes and give them a little glimpse into what makes medicine so fun and interesting.”

For eighth grader Angely Andrade of Westbury Middle School, the CPR session was a highlight. “If I can’t be a doctor and I see someone in need, I want to have the skills and to be able to help,” she said.

She also discovered a love of anatomy. “It was like opening my eyes to a new world, all the inside parts of the body I never knew about.”

High school students attended sessions on financial aid, admissions, RSOM, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Health Professions, the School of Nursing, the School of Social Welfare, the Simons STEM Scholars program, and ‘A Day in the Life’ panel of healthcare workers. They also met medical students who shared their journeys and answered questions about workload, mentorship and navigating obstacles.

The day offered information about careers that students may not have known about or considered, as was the case for eleventh grader Anna Tumox of Riverhead Charter School. “I found out information on a program I might want to take if I came here,” she said. “Learning about the different types of careers gave me more ideas. I knew I wanted to work in healthcare, but had no idea how many different options there are.”

Throughout the day, student volunteers also spoke about the importance of representation and mentorship. Many described how their own paths had been shaped by meeting even one professional who looked like them, or who took the time to explain the process of pursuing a healthcare career.

“I didn’t often see a physician who looked like me,” Teuton said. “When I finally met one, it inspired me to keep going. Sometimes we are the only people in the room. Having young people see that it is possible can really help them along their journey.”

Jerome Belford, a third-year medical student and volunteer coordinator, emphasized how mentorship changed his trajectory. The first in his family to attend college, he found guidance through undergraduate programs at Stony Brook University that connected him with research and medical school preparation. “It made the process feel possible,” he said. “Now I want to make that accessibility part of what younger students see when they come here.”

Executive Vice President for Stony Brook Medicine William Wertheim, MD, offered remarks reflecting on what the day represented. He reminded students that “every person here… is on a different journey, and all of those journeys began with moments like this,” encouraging them to stay open-minded, ask questions and let curiosity guide them as they explored what their own futures in healthcare might become. 

Cardiothoracic surgeon Allison McLarty, MD, delivered the summit’s featured address. She shared her personal story of growing up in Jamaica, suffering a traumatic childhood injury that sparked her interest in medicine and navigating times when people told her she could not become a doctor or a surgeon. Her mother’s response, repeated throughout her journey, helped push her forward when others told her she could not succeed: “Nonsense.”

She recounted early experiences treating heart patients, her training at the Mayo Clinic and the challenges of being a young Black woman surgeon whose patients sometimes assumed her students were the doctors instead. She spoke about choosing to work harder, taking every opportunity and refusing to say no to herself.

“Dream. Be determined. Recognize your destiny,” McLarty told the students. “And do not say ‘no’ to yourself. You never know what might happen if you say ‘yes.’”

“If you believe in yourself and say, ‘I want this more than anything,’ you can make it happen,” said Powell. “And then you can inspire the next person.”

— Beth Squire