Christian Pean is a fourth-year medical student here at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
As many of you know, Christian’s brother Alan was shot this past August in a hospital while attempting to get treatment. Thankfully Alan survived and is able tell his story.
Today, two in-depth stories about the shooting of Alan and violence in hospitals have been released: One in the New York Times and another in partnership with This American Life and the New York Times.
We asked Christian if we could bring these to your attention and he agreed, and also let us know about some important initiatives around the issue of violence in hospitals, race and bias, and the promotion of social justice.
If you can, take a moment to fill out the questions posted at the bottom of the article about race and bias in health care and the use firearms and TASER guns in the hospital setting. Your answers may be used as a New York Times follow-up story.
Read the New York Times article “When the Hospital Fires the Bullet,” and listen to the This American Life podcast episode titled, “My Damn Mind.”
There are more ways to get involved.
Spread the word – Use social media to raise awareness; investigate the following hashtags:
- #MedicineNotBullet
- #ActionsSpeakLouder
- #JusticeForAlan
- #WhiteCoatsForBlackLives
- #BlackLivesMatter
- #LatinoLivesMatter
- #PatientLivesMatter
Learn about the organizations that are working to change the impact of racism and bias on the delivery of health care:
- Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association
- Latino Medical Student Association
- Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform (PfCJR)
- Physicians for Human Rights
- Student National Medical Student Association
- White Coats for Black Lives
We’d like to thank Christian, Alan, and their family for sharing their story with us—a broader audience.
We wish them all the best.
Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs
The Department of Medical Education