Tar Heel Footprints in Health Care

A periodic feature that recognizes individuals whose efforts— often unsung—enhance the health of North Carolinians

Cedric Bright

Dr. Cedric Bright is everywhere. in that are underserved by health Since graduating from the University of North professionals. Carolina School of Medicine in 1990, Dr. Bright has Across the years, the MED Program has played been instrumental in transforming the health care a vital role in improving the health and well-being workforce across the state of North Carolinians. Twenty-three percent of UNC of North Carolina. Over the School of Medicine (SOM) graduates who also com- years, he has served as a pleted the MED Program went on to practice in rural physician at the Durham VA, North Carolina counties compared to 13% of SOM Duke University, UNC Health graduates who did not complete the program. Half Care, and was most recently of MED graduates go on to practice within primary named the dean of admis- care. Additionally, 8% of dual SOM-MED Program sions at ECU’s Brody School graduates practice in health provider shortage areas of Medicine. in North Carolina compared to 1.4% of those who Outside of his direct role did not complete the MED Program [1]. in the hospital and clinic, some of Dr. Bright’s great- The impact of Dr. Bright’s leadership is illustrated est contributions have been within academia—spe- by 2015 MED alum and current SOM student Prosper cifically through supporting and training upcoming Amponsah, who noted, “Dr. Bright is someone who physicians and dentists in North Carolina. empowered me to continue pursuing my goal of During his tenure at UNC from 2011 to 2019, becoming a doctor. Through the MED Program, he he served as executive director of the Office of continued to stress my academic potential, giving Special Programs (OSP) at the School of Medicine, me the confidence to excel in the program. To this which functions to support minorities and under- day, he continues to serve as a mentor I can go to for represented students interested in health and allied any advice” (Amponsah, personal communication, health professions. Among the multitude of pro- February 2019). grams that OSP hosts, Dr. Bright directly oversaw In addition to his immense impact leading the the flagship Medical Education Development (MED) MED Program, Dr. Bright’s role in admissions at the Program, of which he is a 1986 graduate. Since its UNC School of Medicine allowed him to advocate inception in 1974, this nine-week pre-health inten- for the continued pursuit of a highly diverse, socially sive educational program has trained over 3,000 responsible, and highly skilled student body. Many students—92% have gone on to receive accep- minority students at the UNC School of Medicine tances at medical, dental, and allied health profes- testify to the impact Dr. Bright has had on their sional schools. Under Dr. Bright’s leadership, the program expanded from 80 to 90 students per Electronically published May 6, 2019. class, and now receives over 350 completed appli- Address correspondence to Malik Dancy and Sam cations per cycle. Wurzelmann, 321 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516 Each MED class is composed of students who ([email protected], [email protected]). are considered underrepresented minorities (ie, N C Med J. 2019;80(3):133-134. ©2019 by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and The Duke Endowment. All rights ethnic, economic, gender/sex, geographic) within reserved. health care, and many are from rural communities 0029-2559/2019/80317

NCMJ vol. 80, no. 3 133 ncmedicaljournal.com young medical careers, and cite him as the reason he meant a lot to everybody at UNC” (Nwakibu, per- they chose to attend the institution. Dr. Bright’s sonal communication, February 2019). impact is reflected in the fact that UNC is a national As a man whose accomplishments are too leader in recruiting minority students. UNC is one of lengthy to list, and whose praises are too numer- only eight medical schools in the country with more ous and loud to sing all at once, Dr. Bright is truly a than 100 Black or African-American students [2]. physician worth celebrating. Not only is ECU lucky Dr. Bright’s eternally-open office door allows him to have Dr. Bright, but the entire state of North to serve as a leader and mentor to student doctors Carolina is lucky to have him as well. on a daily basis. Despite his hectic schedule, stu- Sam Wurzelmann medical student, University of North dents praise his unparalleled accessibility—always Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. making time to celebrate student successes and Malik Dancy medical student, University of North Carolina at listen to their frustrations as they navigate a chal- Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. lenging health education system. Student organiza- Acknowledgments tions at UNC such as the Student National Medical Potential conflicts of interest. S.W. and M.D. have no rel- Association, Latino Medical Student Association, evant conflicts of interest. and Queer-Straight Alliance, leaned heavily upon Dr. References Bright and the Office of Special Programs for sup- 1. Knopf T. Learning What Medical School Really Takes. Dai- port. 2014 MED alum and current UNC medical stu- lyYonder.com. https://www.dailyyonder.com/learning-wh at-medical-school-really-takes/2018/08/24/26911/. dent Uzo Nwakibu noted, “Before I actually started Published August 24, 2018. Accessed February 25, 2019. school here, I looked at Dr. Bright as a champion for 2. Association of American Medical Colleges. Total Enrollment the black students at UNC. After starting school, by U.S. Medical School and Race/Ethnicity, 2018-2019. Washington, DC: AAMC; 2018. https://www.aamc.org though, and witnessing the kind of relationship he /download/321540/data/factstableb5-1.pdf. Accessed has with all members of the community, I realized February 25, 2019.

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