In the spirit of Black History Month, we shine a spotlight on three revolutionary healthcare professionals who are working to ensure and expand access to vital medical care and advocate for a more diverse and inclusive healthcare sector. These inspiring doctors and medical experts are blazing trails, breaking down barriers, and mentoring the next generation of black doctors, healthcare professionals, and advocates: Joel Bervell, The Medical Mythbuster, Dr. Brittny Randolph, and Dr. Cedric “Jamie” Rutland.
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Meet Joel Bervell
Joel Bervell’s “Medical Mythbuster” aims to tackle medical misinformation and healthcare disparities. Currently a medical student, Joel is a passionate advocate for health equity, making complex topics accessible and engaging for all. Beyond his dedication to digital education, Joel is committed to mentoring future generations of healthcare professionals. Joel shares his perspective on health education and leadership development.
About The Journey
Joel, a Ghanaian American medical student & 2024 TED Fellow, has dedicated his career to dismantling healthcare disparities, a journey ignited by personal loss. At an early age, Joel understood that inequities in healthcare did not only occur globally but existed in the United States. Joel often discusses implicit bias and how it can be inescapable for black students, in particular, but his personal accounts of bias and microaggressions in school settings fueled his passion for advocacy by pushing back against stereotypes, asking the tough questions, and advocating for equitable systems.
About The Next Generation of HCPs
Joel is a medical student at Washington State University, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
Passionate about empowering the next generation of medical leaders, he is the founder and director of the Coug Health Academic Mentoring Program (CHAMP), a program dedicated to increasing the number of underrepresented students interested in the medical profession.
“My college professors and mentors reminded me of my worth and how important it was for me to be in these spaces,” says Bervell. “A setback is only a setup for a comeback,” he adds and often advises. Joel’s experiences with strong mentors and sponsors shaped his determination to pivot from mentee to mentor for the next generation of black medical students and healthcare professionals needing guidance and support. Joel also co-founded the nonprofit organization HUGS, which is dedicated to empowering the next generation of high school global leaders.
About the ‘Medical Myths’Myths’ Future of Health Equity
Joel’s advocacy extends far beyond his personal experiences, as demonstrated by his thorough understanding of the historical and societal factors that shape healthcare disparities. “Health equity is about understanding why these disparities exist beyond the medical aspect.” “Redlining, climate change, and food deserts are a few examples of factors that directly tie into health equity and disproportionately affect the black community,” notes Joel. “Redlining has forced some black communities into certain areas that impact issues like asthma or cancer; the same goes for access to feeding zones or food deserts,” he says.
Joel’s work sparks critical discussions around how our social determinants impact our health – where we live, work, shop, and eat -and how all are directly tied to health equity. Within the healthcare system, Joel sheds light on issues like race-based medicine, clinical trial (under)representation, and even technological biases – stemming from devices that don’t work on (or were never tested) darker skin tones.
Through his active and engaging social media presence, TED Talks, and speaking engagements, Joel aims to educate communities and inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals. Ultimately, Joel hopes to foster a broader public understanding that healthcare isn’t objective but shaped by historical and systemic barriers. The more we understand them, the more we can advocate for change and achieve true health equity.
Meet Dr. Brittny Randolph
Also known as “Dr. Britt,” she is a Psychiatrist, U.S. Air Force Captain and mental health advocate dedicated to creating safe spaces for healing and addressing health disparities in underserved communities of color. A graduate of the University of Florida College of Medicine, she specializes in general psychiatry with a compassionate, patient-first approach.
About The Journey
Dr. Brittny traces her journey to medicine back to her childhood upbringing in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Growing up in a single-parent household with five siblings, Dr. Brittny was exposed to the challenges of adversity, trauma, and mental illness within her family and her community.
Her experiences as a youth fueled her desire to serve underserved communities and people that look like her. With initial dreams of becoming a pediatrician, her clinical rotations led her to a deep connection to psychiatry, where Dr. Brittny shares that it felt “aligned with her values.”
Dr. Brittny found her calling to advocate for the most vulnerable and stigmatized community members. This, coupled with her personal struggles with mental health, only solidified her decision to pursue this newfound path in her medical career journey. “I didn’t choose psychiatry; psychiatry chose me,” she adds.
About Mental Health Destigmatization
“People with mental illness are some of the most underserved, misunderstood, stigmatized, disenfranchised members of society,” shares Dr. Britt. This notion confirmed that she needed to do the work in this space to advocate and help break down the stigma of mental health, specifically in the black community. Cultural stigmas in our community often prevent individuals from seeking help. Dr. Britt believes that open conversations are key to breaking down these stigmas and encourages individuals to speak up and speak out about their personal experiences.
Dr. Britt emphasizes that “you can have mental health struggles and still have a full life.” Her “advocacy work stresses the importance of acknowledging and addressing trauma in the black community, shifting away from the cultural norm of “pushing through” and towards a focus on wellness and healing.
As discussions surrounding mental illness become more accepted and normalized in our society, social media, entertainment, and even faith-based communities, Dr. Britt firmly believes that creating more safe spaces for healing will further reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness in black communities and our society at large.
About Her Advocacy Work
Beyond the clinic, Dr. Britt is committed to breaking down barriers to mental health care, which is why she is deeply connected to her work with the Holding Space Foundation, a nonprofit associated with Therapy for Black Girls, to support Black women and girls in tending to their mental health and helping to train mental health professionals on how to best care for this community. Dr. Britt’s dedication to the mental health field as a psychiatrist and an advocate reflects her unwavering commitment to breaking down barriers and improving mental health access for all.
Meet Dr. Cedric “Jamie” Rutland
Dr. Rutland is a triple board-certified Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Internal Medicine physician and owner of Rutland Medical Group, a busy private practice in Newport Beach, CA. The healthcare powerhouse is on a mission to breathe life into medicine (literally) through his dedicated work as a clinical educator, international speaker, and media consultant, making complex medical topics accessible and engaging.
About the Journey
Family experiences with illness and healthcare access at a young age influenced Dr. Rutland’s path to becoming a pulmonologist and critical care physician.
From watching his grandfather struggle with emphysema to his grandmother’s lifelong tracheostomy, Dr. Rutland was exposed to the realities of unequal access to quality care in black communities.
This ignited his passion to gain a deeper understanding of pulmonary disease and work to dismantle the systemic barriers that prevent individuals from getting the care they need and deserve. His work today is fueled by learning at an early age that access to adequate healthcare (or its lack thereof) can truly change the trajectory of one’s life.
About Health Equity in Pulmonology
On a mission to “breathe life into medicine,” Dr. Rutland’s work extends far beyond treating patients in the office. Understanding the power of communication, Dr. Rutland utilizes social media, television, academic conferences, and movie opportunities to reach diverse audiences and champion patient empowerment through education. “Breathing new life into medicine means educating the public because individuals want to understand how the body works,” shares Dr. Rutland. “My job is to allow individuals to understand what their bodies are experiencing through environmental impacts and the choices they make daily,” he adds. His targeted approach seeks to educate, empower, and influence patients to make informed decisions about their healthcare.
Dr. Rutland is a vocal advocate for health equity, particularly in the black community, where environmental factors like air pollution disproportionately affect lung health. He is a champion for bringing pulmonary care and education to underserved communities.
About The Advocacy
Dr. Rutland is dedicated to breaking down respiratory immunology and crafting compelling digital content, keeping him at the forefront of healthcare innovation. But he is also committed to empowering the next generation of Black physicians, as evident through his work with the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), an organization dedicated to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians. Dr. Rutland is genuinely invested in pouring into the next generation of medical professionals, especially young black students who face unique obstacles along their medical journey. Dr. Rutland’s career reflects an undeniable commitment to individual patients and the broader community, striving to enhance health education, expand access to quality care, and achieve health equity.
Celebrating Black History Month with FIGS
Throughout February, the Doctors have partnered with healthcare apparel brand FIGS to curate the “FIGS FAVES” Shop,” including their favorite products. FIGS will donate a percentage of each product to organizations working to expand access to healthcare for Black communities and inspire the next generation of HCP leaders. Learn more about the featured products and beneficiary organizations highlighted by the doctors here.
These healthcare trailblazers embody the very spirit of Black History Month – through their dedication to expanding access, advocating for diversity, and mentoring future leaders. As we highlight these healthcare professionals for their remarkable contributions, their stories remind us that progress in healthcare access and equity is not only possible but inevitable when the work is driven by passion, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to serving the community.
