Students from the Georgetown University Medical Center’s (GUMC) chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), a national network of medical students of color, hosted an event series titled in celebration of Black History Month. 

The series, titled “Melanin in Medicine: Liberation Through Black Identity,” was hosted in partnership with GUMC’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Georgetown’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Let Freedom Ring!” initiative held throughout Black History Month. 

The series included a “Physicians in Policy” event, which gave students the opportunity to meet Black physicians, view the documentary “Black Men in White Coats” and participate in an  all-female panel discussion on “Black Educators in White Spaces.” The discussion explored the roles race, gender and environment play during clinical and nonclinical years of medical training.

While this is the seventh annual installment of “Melanin in Medicine,” this year was the first time the series lasted the entirety of Black History Month, according to Georgetown SNMA Vice President Nicole Utah (MED ’25).

“This year we wanted to do things a little bit differently, still taking the blueprint of our predecessors, but spanning it out throughout the month,” Utah said in an interview with The Hoya. “We didn’t want people to just forget about it, or just have one and leave it at that, and there were a lot of stories to be told.”

Throughout the series, Georgetown SNMA aimed to facilitate dialogue about key issues facing current and aspiring Black clinicians and highlight resources for minority students who are navigating the medical field. 

The goal of the event series was also to honor Black physicians, according to Georgetown SNMA Social Chair Christina Asare (MED ’25).  

“The reason we decided to do it all month long was just to give a chance to celebrate Black History Month, with the key theme being that representation matters,” Asare said in an interview with The Hoya. “We’re just finding ways to celebrate Black positions and just show the ways to be in different sectors of things outside of medicine while being a physician.” 

Georgetown SNMA President Kitara Smith (MED ’25) said the organization worked to connect current and aspiring medical students of color. 

“It’s mainly a networking thing as well, to see for a lot of people who are underrepresented in medicine or first generation, just providing those tools of knowing — for example, for pre-meds how to approach the medical school application, or for medical students, how to approach the residency applications, or how to network, how to kind of put yourself out there, so you can have more representation in medicine,” Smith said in an interview with The Hoya. 

SNMA provides critical support to students as they embark on their medical school endeavors, according to GUMC Dean Edward B. Healton. 

“Our SNMA students and dedicated faculty advisors enrich our community through their meaningful programming such as the recent Black History Month series, Melanin in Medicine, and by their dedication to our Medical Center’s Racial Justice Committee for Change. SNMA consistently demonstrates a deep commitment to our Georgetown values – especially cura personalis.” Healton wrote in an email to The Hoya. 

Georgetown SNMA works closely with Georgetown University Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (GUMAPS), an organization at GUMC focused on increasing diversity in the medical field by supporting undergraduate students on the pre-med track and providing them with mentorship opportunities, Smith said. 

Utah said hearing about the experiences of underrepresented medical students and physicians inspired her to become involved with the Georgetown chapter once she became a medical student.

“I think it was at that moment, I got to see people who looked like me in such a space that is very limited in our representation,” Utah said. “Hearing their experiences, hearing their stories, both medical students and physicians, and to hear all of the struggles but also the empowering experiences of people who I looked up to, was just an incredible experience for me that I think that every undergrad should get the chance to do.”