Lynne Richardson, MD, wanted to become a doctor ever since she was a kid. But society had other ideas for a black girl born in Harlem in the 1950s. "I remember the first time I told my family physician. He said, 'Don't be ridiculous. You'll get married and have children,'" she recalls. Dr. Richardson went on to become an emergency medicine physician and renowned health equity researcher. On this episode, she talks about how rewriting society's "script" helped her build resilience, and explains why she's hopeful that COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement will lead to progress on health care inequities. 

Dr. Richardson is co-Director of the Institute for Health Equity Research, Professor, Emergency Medicine, and Population Health Science and Policy, and Vice Chair for Academic, Research, and Community Programs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 

This episode also features Ernest J. Barthelemy, MD, MA, MPH, Chief Resident, Department of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Links:

• Institute for Health Equity Research at Mount Sinai
• United In Solidarity at the Mount Sinai Health System
• Anti-racism resources 
• Mount Sinai’s Office for Diversity & Inclusion
• Dr. Richardson’s FemInEM lecture
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Check out more episodes of Road to Resilience —as well as guest pictures, transcripts, and more— on the Mount Sinai website.

Road to Resilience brings you stories and insights to help you thrive in a challenging world. From fighting burnout and trauma to building resilient families, we explore what’s possible when science meets the human spirit.