BURLINGTON, Vt. — A new partnership could encourage medical residents of color to stay and pursue a career in Vermont.
According to a Pew Research survey, more than half of Black Americans say they’ve noticed disparities in health care.
A new partnership between the University of Vermont Medical Center and the Vermont Professionals of Color Network aims to help improve that care.
“We recognized that in working to attract BIPOC residents for our program, we knew that there would be resources needed to support them in making a transition to a predominantly white community,” said Courtney Fleisher, a pediatric psychologist at UVMMC.
The health network is partnering with the Vermont Professionals of Color Network to launch “Newcomer Nexus.” Participants are paired with ambassadors of color to show them the best opportunities Vermont has to offer but also make residents feel more at home.
Tino Rutanhira, co-founder and co-executive director of the Vermont Professionals of Color Network, said he wants to change the narrative that Vermont, is cold and unwelcoming to people who may also feel as though they don’t fit in culturally.
He said the program can help these residents to learn from others who came before about how to feel more at home in the Green Mountain State.
“You can be who you are, whether you’re Black or trans or LGBTQ or, Muslim, people here are accepting. And that’s the sort of thing that we want to convey to the world out there,” said Rutanhira. “And so when people come and they have that opportunity, we want to try to give them chances to go apple picking, to go rock climbing, to go snowshoeing for the first time, to go downhill skiing. All those kind of activities are things that people who live here have embraced and enjoy.”
Gary Scott, the senior vice president of facilities and support services, moved to Vermont from Chicago to work at the hospital during the pandemic. He said he thought about leaving because he felt isolated without having other Black friends or mentors to connect with.
“So, here you are feeling alone, you’re feeling isolated. And [here’s] a program like this, I think, you know, for [those] who need it,” said Scott. “I’m not saying everybody will need it, but for people like myself who transition here, I think folks who are in my position, and even if they’re not, it’s just nice to be welcomed by a community of people that, that have similar interests.”
The program is open to hundreds of aspiring clinicians. Medical residents can work different rotations up to 50 hours a week, and the partnership runs for three months.
“Our real hope is that they are able to find community in this setting, have a group of people who have similar experiences or who share some of the challenges of living in a predominately white community and that they find that they have other people to turn to, both for just social experiences outside of work and also as a good network of co-residents to help with challenges that come up both in the community and in the hospital setting,” said Fleisher.
The program is currently open across six departments at the hospital. Organizers are hoping to match ambassadors with new residents by March.
