Student Equitable Medicine Initiative (SEMI)

• February 3, 2021
• 1 Donation

PLEASE VISIT/SHARE/DONATE TO OUR GOFUNDME: https://gofund.me/626678b7

The Student Equitable Medicine Initiative (SEMI) is a free, student-led virtual program educating high school students and college freshmen across the country about racial and ethnic inequities in healthcare. SEMI seeks to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) healthcare workers to help align the national public health scheme with the needs of minority communities.

Last summer, the SEMI Virtual Summer Program engaged over 62 students nationally and graduated 38 SEMI Scholars from a four-week series of lectures from healthcare professionals of color. This February, the SEMI Virtual Winter Program is executing another month-long series of student engagement, community education, and fundraising.

Throughout the month, SEMI Scholars will engage in thought-provoking discussions surrounding race, identity, environment, and healthcare. Learning about the disparities seen in the BIPOC trans community is an integral part of the SEMI curriculum as these are symptoms of a public health crisis deep-rooted in structural racism and transphobia. Research shows that trans people of color are more likely to contract diseases including COVID-19 due to neglect from medical providers, home eviction, and other social determinants of health. This campaign is an effort to support BTAC, a nonprofit distributing care packages and food to Black trans people in need. These materials can be of great use to marginalized queer people in the time of a global pandemic, where BIPOC face a COVID death rate “double or more” than that of White Americans.*

SEMI Scholars are dedicated to supporting BTAC because it represents our mission: upholding equity, justice, and human rights in medicine. We welcome any and all youth, health equity advocates, and compassionate individuals to help provide relief to the Black trans community.

*“Color of Coronavirus: COVID-19 Deaths Analyzed by Race and Ethnicity.” APM Research Lab, www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race.