REG at SFCCC (My Internship)—Blog Series 1 of 3
Reggie is the Treasurer for Student Senate at Oberlin.
SFCCC and Health Disparities (Article 1)
My name is Reginald Goudeau. I am a sophomore at Oberlin College, and I am interning virtually at the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium (SFCCC). During my internship, I learned about the work of SFCCC and the importance of Community Health Centers. I have also collaborated with SFCCC’s Director of Workforce, Beau Sanchez, and other associates to research ways to combat racism in medicine. This is the first in a series of articles I am writing as my final project. I will focus on SFCCC and its operations, community clinics, and my own healthcare experience over the years.
After several weeks, I am happy to report that the SFCCC and its member clinics work overtime to address inequity with long-term care. Community Health Centers are in medically underserved locations where needed care is inaccessible (often in neighborhoods with higher minority populations). Health centers provide primary health care, dental care, behavioral treatment, pharmacy services, and vision care. One key difference between typical healthcare facilities and Community Health Centers is how health centers focus more on prevention and accessibility. Community Health centers provide their services for free or at a low cost, control hypertension rates, reduce the risk of low birth weights, and focus on other preventive health care issues that primarily affect people of color.
62% of those who use Health Centers are racial or ethnic minorities, over 1.1 million are homeless, and 92% have family incomes 200% below the federal poverty level, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. From just these statistics alone, it is clear that the SFCCC and Health Centers as a whole are putting in the work to serve the underserved.
I appreciate SFCCC’s particular desire to help those who have good reason historically to dislike and distrust the government. A lifetime of seeing and experiencing chronic mistreatment and racism in someone’s life would make anyone feel this way. Most recently, they have been working to promote and create equity for COVID-19 treatment and vaccine distribution. Vaccine equity will be a future article topic, so I’ll hold off on mentioning any more about that for now.
I also gained access to more than enough films, podcasts, statistics, and resources to reinforce the sad truth I already knew about our healthcare system’s inequity. One of my favorite resources from everything I took notes on was the film “Black Men in White Coats” and the accompanying website. Thanks to the San Francisco Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Scholars program, I was able to get special access to view this documentary. The AHEC Scholars are health professional students who want to supplement their education by partnering with Community Health Centers to improve underserved San Francisco residents’ health. The program enables high-potential students interested in social justice to explore primary care provision and the community healthcare model through an interdisciplinary lens.
The film was fantastic, if not depressing, because it highlights how far we need to come towards true equality in and outside of medicine. One of the first significant statistics in the film said only 2% of Black Men are physicians (far from the last important statistic or story in the movie). I wholeheartedly recommend the movie and checking out their website if possible. I listened to a handful of the podcasts available there, which was enlightening and varied in the information they provide.
Whether you are a Black person currently practicing medicine, an aspiring medical professional, or one who has gone to the doctor before, there are more than enough articles, books, papers, and podcasts explaining the phenomenon of medical racism. However, one does not need to point to data and figures to prove that medical racism is real. I could tell you that simply based on the lived experiences of my family and me.
I do not have a consistent Primary Care Physician, and my family has access to insurance from CareSource (a Medicaid program). The program is functional, but it does not offer “extra” (aka still essential but not accessible to all) services often given by better insurance providers. My mother has an autoimmune disease and yet is still racially profiled at her doctor frequently. She is drug tested nearly every time she goes there (and yes, the doctor does see primarily white people). My sister is also learning-disabled and finding professionals in the lower-income area that know how to accommodate her needs is challenging. I am from a low-income household, and many others (primarily Black and Brown people) in my same position often report similar problems.
Not all of what I’ve mentioned affects only Black people. Still, Black people are hit harder by many issues like these with less support through the process because of interpersonal and systemic instances of racism. These factors and lived experiences are part of the reason I’ve been interested in the medical field for so long. I hope that I can help my family or others who look like me somewhere through this process. Unfortunately, medical school and higher academia seem inaccessible, due to include high tuition costs, racism persisting in the classroom, and a general lack of support while learning in a foreign environment. Black patients often do not have proper health care access and receive a lower quality of care due to racism in medicine. Due to these factors, I might only have a limited number of Black patients as a future medical professional. Thankfully, my time with the SFCCC has given me a bit of insight into other ways to help that are less classist and more widely accessible.
Traditional medical school is far from the only option one has when looking into medicine, but I’ll talk more about that in my final article. For now, I’ll close by saying I value my experience here and hope I can work with the organization again somewhere down the line (even if it’s another virtual experience or just doing some writing for them from afar). If you would like to see information about your nearest community health center, please click this link.