I want to give back to my community by becoming a black medical professional and sharing my knowledge with others.Black Americans are consistently undertreated for medical issues compared to white patients, including pregnant black women. Today, black women are more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications more often than white women. History shows that they write us off when black people seek treatment for medical concerns. Which leads to preventable deaths, hospitalizations, and medical mistrust.

Mental health is becoming more important in today’s society. Many people are overcoming the negative stigma of mental health and realizing that seeking help can be a positive thing. I have heard and read stories over the years about how families (predominantly black) did not seek mental help because of the fear of what friends and family would think. Fortunately, in today’s society, I believe that seeking help has now become more common and in some cases even rewarding. People can now seek mental help in the privacy of their own home with online doctors and therapists. I have personally had family and close friends deal with mental health struggles, so I have seen firsthand the benefits of having a professional to talk with outside of your family. Having witnessed the benefits of it, I have gained an understanding of how mental health can involve a variety of things and can affect people of different ages. I believe taking care of your mental health allows you to have a better understanding of yourself and it allows you to form better relationships with the people you deal with on a daily basis. Good mental health does not mean that every day will be a good day, but I believe it equips you to handle the bad days much better. In today’s community, we need more African Americans as medical professionals. That is why my goal is to become a physician or physician’s assistant. While attending middle school, I decided that I wanted to be in the medical field to help people. I originally thought I would like to be a pediatrician but as I have gotten older, I have realized that there is a great need to help young adults and adults as well. In my physician practice, I will let my patients know that it is okay to have someone to check in with in regards to mental health. Unfortunately, you cannot just look at someone and determine that they are having struggles mentally, so it is all about building relationships with patients. Therefore, I want to have a practice of being the kind of physician that someone will be comfortable talking with and present myself as someone who can relate to and understand any mental health struggles one may have. We have far too many people suffering in silence and I want to get the word out that there are options for mental health care.

WORTHEN, ERIN 7/6/23 MENTAL HEALTH TODAY Mental health is becoming more important in today’s society. Many people are overcoming the negative stigma of mental health and realizing that seeking help can be a positive thing. I have heard and read stories over the years about how families (predominantly black) did not seek mental help because of the fear of what friends and family would think. Fortunately, in today’s society, I believe that seeking help has now become more common and in some cases even rewarding. People can now seek mental help in the privacy of their own home with online doctors and therapists. I have personally had family and close friends deal with mental health struggles, so I have seen firsthand the benefits of having a professional to talk with outside of your family. Having witnessed the benefits of it, I have gained an understanding of how mental health can involve a variety of things and can affect people of different ages. I believe taking care of your mental health allows you to have a better understanding of yourself and it allows you to form better relationships with the people you deal with on a daily basis. Good mental health does not mean that every day will be a good day, but I believe it equips you to handle the bad days much better. In today’s community, we need more African Americans as medical professionals. That is why my goal is to become a physician or physician’s assistant. While attending middle school, I decided that I wanted to be in the medical field to help people. I originally thought I would like to be a pediatrician but as I have gotten older, I have realized that there is a great need to help young adults and adults as well. In my physician practice, I will let my patients know that it is okay to have someone to check in with in regards to mental health. Unfortunately, you cannot just look at someone and determine that they are having struggles mentally, so it is all about building relationships with patients. Therefore, I want to have a practice of being the kind of physician that someone will be comfortable talking with and present myself as someone who can relate to and understand any mental health struggles one may have. We have far too many people suffering in silence and I want to get the word out that there are options for mental health care.