Abiba Salahou, m.s.D., 是否长期致力于公共卫生和宣传工作，从未寻求或期望其工作获得任何高级别认可.

However, Salahou recently was awarded the 2023 Excellence in Public Health Award from the U.S. Public Health Service Physician Professional Advisory Committee. She was formally acknowledged for this honor at 2023’s Honors Convocation on May 11.

Salahou said that she was “surprised” and “honored” to have received the award.

“I wasn't really expecting it, 因为我知道这里有很多非常了不起的同学，他们在社区做了很多志愿者工作，也做了很多伟大的倡议……我们中的任何一个人都可以很容易地获得同样的奖项,”她说。. “It was definitely a very pleasant surprise. I’m extremely honored as well.”

“很高兴得到一些认可，支持我对改善我将要服务的社区的深切关注,萨拉赫补充道.

“Having that recognition right before starting residency has been really special, because I definitely want to continue that work as a physician.”

她收到了一封电子邮件，通知她将在比赛日当天获得奖项, 她发现自己在耶鲁大学的精神病学专业很匹配，这让本来就很激动人心的一天又添了一笔.

“It was a phenomenal day, definitely the best day of my med school career for sure,”她说。.

Addressing the barriers
Salahou’s first exposure to the medical field was when she was growing up in Syracuse, N.Y. 她会陪祖母去看医生，帮她把英语翻译成约鲁巴语.

“亲眼看到她作为一个不会说英语的病人所受到的差别待遇，我真的很震惊,萨拉霍说.

“这让我对医疗保健差距感兴趣，并弄清楚为什么我们有这么多的医疗保健不平等,她补充道。. “And why things like language barriers create such a huge gap in care for patients.”

Abiba Salahou was all smiles on Match Day.

另外, 她认为，在城市环境中长大让她接触到了医疗保健方面的差异. Salahou本科时曾在纽约和尼加拉瓜的当地难民组织做志愿者.

“(在尼加拉瓜)我能够将公共卫生背景置于更大的全球范围内，看看我在纽约长大的所有事情，并将其与我在海外看到的情况进行对比,”她说。. “It solidified my interest (in medicine).”

总的来说，她说她发现医学是一个适合倡导边缘化人群的领域.

“我最热衷的是改善我周围的条件和社区，以及提高人们对日常困境和挑战的认识和关注, especially within marginalized and underserved communities,萨拉霍说.

“Medicine is really one of the most perfect fields to address this issue,她补充道。. “We're uniquely positioned as medical students because on the one hand, we have that perspective, being members of the community ourselves, 但我们也和医生和其他医科学生一起学习，亲眼看到医疗系统是如何运作的.”

在OUWB的时间
After Salahou graduated from Bard College with a degree in biology, she wanted to find a medical school that aligned with her values and interests, particularly in community organization and activism. She found that OUWB was the place that checked her boxes.

“When I was interviewing at medical schools, I was really paying attention to the schools that talked about community service, wanted students to get involved and be engaged, and wanted students to be involved in these conversations,”她说。.

During her interview with OUWB, she was struck by the initiatives in place to get students involved in community service.

“对社区服务的关注似乎真的不只是在(OUWB)网站上作秀, but something that was heavily prioritized,萨拉霍说. “作为这里的学生, 因为已经有很多社区合作伙伴关系，所以很容易接触到当地组织并参与进来……所以我认为对社区服务的强调和关注最终是正确的.”

Salahou在OUWB和周围社区的参与历史非常广泛-在她在该机构的四年中, she has been involved with several student organizations. She joined the Psychiatry Interest Group in 2021, and served as the M3 student representative and research liaison. 在这个群体中, 她在小组中建立了一个研究部门，让学生参与精神病学的研究.

Salahou自2020年以来一直是全国学生医学协会的一员，并在该组织的执行委员会任职, where she took part in organizing the annual Martin Luther King Jr. 在钱德勒公园学院高中举办了健康博览会，并在校园里创建了项目，教育医学生了解少数族裔患者和学生面临的挑战. 她参与并担任领导职务的其他学生团体包括儿科兴趣小组, Mental Health Advocates Group, and Family Medicine Interest Group.

外置区, Salahou has been involved with several community organizations, including Lighthouse of Oakland County.

“我(与他们)密切合作，创建了一个纵向研究项目，评估COVID-19大流行期间的情绪困扰如何影响生活在密歇根州东南部的粮食不安全人群的情绪困扰,”她说。.

除了这项研究，Salahou还为社区成员创建了一个虚拟的心理健康工具包.

What Salahou is most proud of, however, is the 文字-动作 她创作于2020年.

“I led the initiative to create a 文字-动作, 在医学院发起的反种族主义倡议，包括与教员一对一会面，集思广益，我们如何更好地增加课程的多样性，更好地增加我们对许多公共卫生问题的讨论，我觉得这些问题没有得到充分解决,”她说。. “I also had a lot of help from other classmates of mine that were equally passionate.”

“(我们)创建了一个广泛的文件，概述了我们希望OUWB解决我们的核心八个行动项目的方式, 包括改善临床前课程以加强关于种族的对话, 性别, 性, 社会经济地位, 诸如此类的事情,她补充道。. “(另一个行动项目是)在我们的临床教学中增加不同患者群体的代表性……我们也讨论了在学生群体中增加种族多样性的问题。.”

In response to the document, Salahou said that “pretty substantial curriculum changes” were made, 包括在临床前课程中开设新的讲座，并成立一个呼吁行动的特别工作组. 她还参与编写了一份报告，对OUWB的讲座进行审计，以了解与多样性相关的主题有多少次, 股本, and inclusion were mentioned, which was then presented at national conferences.

Looking ahead to her residency, Salahou said that the same values that guided her to OUWB guided her to Yale.

“耶鲁大学, 这是国内为数不多的以社会公正和社区精神健康工作而闻名的精神病学项目之一. Within the program, they have a whole social justice and anti-racism curriculum,”她说。. “That directly spoke to me.”

“我觉得这是一个完整的循环……每次想到住院医生，我都觉得自己还在掐自己。, but I’m extremely excited and honored to be able to train there, 我非常高兴能继续参与并充满热情地为边缘患者群体争取权益.”

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