LaShyra Nolen, National Health Corps Chicago Alumna (2018-2019) and first-year student at Harvard Medical School spoke to NPR’s Morning Edition on November 4, 2019, in a segment called “Diagnostic Gaps: Skin Comes In Many Shades And So Do Rashes.”

“… lack of diversity in training tools is a problem that people are still struggling with at the very foundation of medical training. LaShyra Nolen, a first-year student at Harvard Medical School, says the issue came up last month in her microbiology class when she and her classmates were shown an image of the classic Lyme disease bull’s-eye rash.

“When someone asked how the disease presents on darker skin, the professor struggled to provide an answer, Nolen says.

“Traditionally, the standard of medicine — in everything from classroom images to CPR dummies — has been white and male, she says, ‘and that is just not going to cut it anymore. We have to move and shift and change in the same direction as our population. If not, we’re going to be unable to provide our diverse patient population with the best care that they deserve.'”

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