THIS IS YOUR YEAR OF LASER FOCUS. Don't let COVID-19 throw you off!  We encourage you to write down your vision. Then make plans to execute.  Don't worry if it doesn't happen right away.  Some dreams are for now but some dreams are for later.  Just know that a dream deferred is NOT a dream denied.  So hold on to your dream and never let go!!  I AM ABEL FOUNDATION is helping to guide the careers of our Next Generation of Healthcare Heroes!  Don't miss the annual event of the year.  We have switched over to an online event so you can attend from your home.  Now how convenient is that!

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

David Ansell, MD, MPH, Physician, Social Epidemiologist, Author

Senior Vice President for Community Health Equity and Associate Provost for Community Affairs, Rush University

Dr. Ansell is a highly sought after speaker for his decades long work and research around the topic of healthcare equity and underserved populations. His recent book, the DEATH GAP - HOW INEQUALITY KILLS is a riveting journey into the intersection of social justice and healthcare inequality.  He has completed a Ted Talk widely seen on youtube and will be presenting to I Am Abel Foundation and our boader social media audience on this critical topic that is even ore relevant today as we explore these same inequities during the COVID-19 Crises.

Amazon Books describes Dr. Ansell's book as follows: "We hear plenty about the widening income gap between the rich and the poor in America and about the expanding distance separating the haves and the have-nots. But when detailing the many things that the poor have not, we often overlook the most critical—their health. The poor die sooner. Blacks die sooner. And poor urban blacks die sooner than almost all other Americans. In nearly four decades as a doctor at hospitals serving some of the poorest communities in Chicago, David A. Ansell, MD,  has witnessed firsthand the lives behind these devastating statistics. In The Death Gap, he gives a grim survey of these realities, drawn from observations and stories of his patients.

While the contrasts and disparities among Chicago’s communities are particularly stark, the death gap is truly a nationwide epidemic—as Ansell shows, there is a thirty-five-year difference in life expectancy between the healthiest and wealthiest and the poorest and sickest American neighborhoods. If you are poor, where you live in America can dictate when you die. It doesn’t need to be this way; such divisions are not inevitable. Ansell calls out the social and cultural arguments that have been raised as ways of explaining or excusing these gaps, and he lays bare the structural violence—the racism, economic exploitation, and discrimination—that is really to blame. Inequality is a disease, Ansell argues, and we need to treat and eradicate it as we would any major illness. To do so, he outlines a vision that will provide the foundation for a healthier nation—for all.

Inequality is all around us, and often the distance between high and low life expectancy can be a matter of just a few blocks. But geography need not be destiny, urges  Ansell. In The Death Gap he shows us how we can face this national health crisis head-on and take action against the circumstances that rob people of their dignity and their lives."

INTENDED AUDIENCE

Todays online event will be geared towards students interested in careers in medicine.  Other pre-med health professionals are also welcome with a special edition of nursing coming soon.  Please be aware that the online webinar will be open to the first 100 persons that register. Please join early!  We will also broadcast live on facebook. 

• High School Students
• Undergraduate Students
• Post-baccalaureate Students
• Middle School Students
• Young adults / recent high school and college graduates
• Parents of Pre-Med Students

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

• 8:30 Opening Welcome, Dr Sweetie Conway

• 9:00 Keynote Address, The Death Gap, Dr. David Ansell

• 10:30 Break

• 10:45 The Road To Medicine, Dr. Sunny Nakae

• Noon Study Medicine In Cuba, Dr. Rene Roberts

• 1pm Had A Setback? Need a Post-Bacc? with Charna Kinard

• 2pm Crack the MCAT with Chineye Ukpaby

• 3pm Books on the Beach? The Carribbean Medical School Option with Jeff Weisberger and Kiara Wallace

• 4pm Matching To The Residency of Your Choice with  Dr. Sanche Mabins and Dr. Vince Morgan and panel of physicians 
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ROSS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Jeff Weisberger, Associate Director of Admissions and Kiara Wallace, 3rd Year Medical Student, Ross University School of Medicine

Jeff will be presenting along with Kiara Wallace, rising 3rd Ross Medical Student (pictured below) on the Carribian School Option at Ross and beyond.  Many students believe that a U.S. medical school is the only route to medical school.  The U.S., however, has a large number of physicians practicing medicine in every specialty from primary care to competitive surgical specialties.  Discuss the advantages and disadvantages, which schools are accredited and reputable and which schools you might consider.

MEET OUR FOUNDER

Dr. LaMenta Sweetie Conway, MD, MPH, is the visionary behind I AM ABEL FOUNDATION and the Chicago Health and Medical Careers Citywide Student Conference and learn about her unquenchable vision to raise our NEXT GENERATION OF HEALTHCARE HEROES!  A proud product of Chicago's Englewood, she knows about dreams deferred that refused to become dreams denied!   Dr. Conway is also the Deputy Chief of Medicine for the Illinois Department of Corrections where she is working hard to help transform medicine for this vulnerable population as well.  Want to learn more about her story and the story of I AM ABEL FOUNDATION?    Visit https://www.iamabel.org/founder