Reflections from a junior member of ABGH: Dr. Kafayat Busari
My desire to pursue gastroenterology was bolstered by determination, curiosity, and passion, yet ironically was often met with skepticism by many in position to help advance this goal. Although projections of incertitude on members of a community that are often made to feel inadequate can diminish even the brightest of lights, conversely it can fuel the creation of an organization emboldened to specifically address GI-related health disparities. When I was a second-year internal medicine resident, I encountered a GI physician who told me GI “wasn’t something I wanted to do”—despite me expressing my interest.
Confused by the statement, I reached out to Renee L. Williams, MD, of NYU Langone Health, who I had met during my medical school training. She suggested I join a conference call later that week. On that call and the many that took place thereafter, I was introduced to Black gastroenterologists who are luminal disease experts, chair members, journal editors, transplant hepatologists, interventional endoscopists, researchers, and professors (in other words, GI professional leaders). My time on the initial call lasted perhaps less than 20 minutes, but the impact has been immeasurable.
I was provided the emotional reassurance that GI was indeed for me and told “there’s always a seat, and if it feels like there’s not, we just need to get more chairs.” Little did I know, but those metaphorical chairs were being gathered so that I and other aspiring gastroenterologists will be able to sit comfortably at these tables one day. I was witnessing these GI professional leaders set in motion the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a pivotal component in the way I approach my career as a gastroenterologist. The experience reignited my mental determination to one day attain the level of success represented by the ABGH board members and to persevere in my quest to help redefine how Black medical students and residents serve their communities as physicians.
The creation of the ABGH could not have come at a better time in my training. In the wake of recent public protests for equity of African Americans within every institution (academia, housing, banks, policing, health care, and beyond), which were fundamentally built on racism, being a junior member of ABGH has not only given me a platform to speak my truth but has also provided me with tools to help others do so as well. As someone very passionate about research, primarily in colorectal cancer, I have been given an opportunity to connect with a dream team of mentors who have taken research ideas to new levels and have challenged me to dig deeper and expand my curiosity to investigate what still needs to be uncovered. It has created opportunity after opportunity for actively building relationships, leading to meaningful collaborations and the sharing of innovative ideas and discoveries.
It is important to emphasize that ABGH is not an organization wanting to exclude themselves on the basis of ethnicity. ABGH is an example of how shared health goals within a medical discipline can be achieved when inclusion and equity is at the helm. ABGH led and represented events that raise awareness of diseases affecting all patients and aim to make the GI community more culturally competent. ABGH is future-oriented and embraces all members who align with the mission regardless of ethnicity, gender, orientation, or disability. The institution that is and will be the ABGH impresses upon me a feeling of excitement, gratitude, and humility. I look forward to continuing the mission created by the founding members and being to others what ABGH is to me.
For more information on this organization, please visit blackingastro.org.
Dr. Busari is a resident physician at Florida State University-SMH and a junior member of ABGH. Dr. Guillaume director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Center at Stony Brook (New York) University Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. They have no disclosures.
References
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3. Blanchard AK. N Engl J Med. 2021 Jun 10;384(23):e87.
