Inspirational Black Men and Women in Medicine: Dr Alvin Reaves III of American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine On 5 Things You Need to Create A Successful Career In Medicine

An Interview With Jamie Hemmings

THE GLAMOUR OF THE WHITE JACKET FADES QUICKLY THE MORE SEASONED ONE BECOMES IN MEDICINE. However, the mission of service remains. Being able to wear the long white coat has been the much-anticipated rite of passage in medicine. I remember the excitement and the proud feeling of donning it in the hospital. It is indeed the symbol of accomplishment for the young physician. However, medicine is “dirty” — it requires time, sacrifice, difficult conversations, and stamina. The white jacket does not reflect the true depth of what medicine is really is.

In the United States today, black doctors are vastly underrepresented. Only 5% of physicians nationwide are black. Why is it so important to have better representation? What steps can be taken to fix this discrepancy? In this interview series, we are talking to successful black men and women in medicine about their career, their accomplishments, and how others may follow their path. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Alvin Reaves III.

Dr. Alvin Reaves III was born and raised in Virginia, and his interest in medicine stems from a young age in taking on a caregiver role for his maternal grandmother and mother. As he grew in his medical education and career, he learned that medicine is more than ordering medication and diagnosing illness — there is an art to medicine. Dr. Reaves now has over 25 years of experience within the medical field.

Dr. Reaves is currently the Medical Director of Palliative Medicine with US Acute Care Solutions at Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland. He is a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) where he serves as a Director at Large and has served on the DE&I Committee. He founded the Black Professionals, Patients, and Families forum in AAHPM as a mechanism to promote solidarity among physicians of color within the sub-specialty. He is also currently pursuing a Masters of Bioethics at Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Newport News, Virginia, spending my weeks there and my weekends and summers with my grandmother in the country in Yorktown, Virginia. My grandmother is whom I received my foundation and rearing. I am the oldest sibling on both my mom and dad’s side, with three siblings from my mom and four from my dad. When I was young, I naturally fell into a caregiver role with my grandmother who was ill when I was a teenager. I really valued the time I spent with her, and I think that is when I started developing my interest in helping others and for medicine.

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My mother, who suffered from a chronic, debilitating illness, was always a very important person in my life and when she started having medical problems, I was by her side the entire time. Unfortunately, we didn’t have many positive experiences while working with hospital staff and physicians. I don’t think it was because they were bad people, rather I think the system wasn’t set up to support my mom in the way she needed, and deserved. She often wasn’t listened to, and her concerns were brushed past. I purposely didn’t disclose my profession as I think every patient, and family, should receive equal care and respect.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13 is the biblical scripture that gives me inspiration. My personal mantra that leads me in my work is, “Making a difference every day.”

I understand that the opportunities and successes that have been afforded me are blessings from God to equip me for my “ministry” through medicine.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

When I was exploring physician opportunities after residency, which I completed in Washington, D.C., my desire was to practice in a metropolitan setting. Ironically, I accepted a position in rural Orangeburg, South Carolina, a place that I had never really considered. This opportunity, however, exposed me to people and opportunities that shaped my current career path as a palliative care physician. The patients and families that I worked with in Orangeburg opened my eyes to the acute need for improved culturally responsive care, in general, and most particularly at the end of life when people are dying.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. TENACITY — The path to medicine requires commitment, dedication and discipline. As a black man in medicine, I have been able to successfully navigate the undergraduate experience, medical school, residency, and a fellowship. I’ve made many sacrifices — very few of which I regret — for these professional milestones.
2. FAITH — I believed that I could achieve my professional aspirations. Obviously, there were challenges along the way — however, I never doubted myself. It was, and is, my faith in God that undergirds my fortitude and resilience. Without God, and my faith, where I am today would not have been possible.
3. PATIENCE — The road to success is not one paved with immediate gratification. It comes with time, effort, and most of all patience.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. This might seem intuitive to you, but it would be helpful to articulate this expressly. Can you share three reasons with our readers why it’s really important for there to be more diversity in medicine?

1. There are cultural differences that some people can only understand by living and experiencing them. Having better representation in medicine means there is a higher probability of a physician and patient, or family, connecting on a basis stronger and deeper than medicine.
2. Medicine is so much more than diagnostics — it is about the art of connecting with people. Connection can be realized in many different ways, and widening the diversity pool for medical professions gives a greater chance that connections can be built by physicians, nurses, social workers and more.
3. Considering healthcare disparities and inequities, establishing physician-patient relationships that are forged in culture and shared lived experiences has the potential to improve health care literacy, mitigate sentiments of medical mistrust, and to improve well-being and quality of life for people in marginalized or minority communities.

As things stand today, what are the main barriers for black men and women to enter the medical field?

Recruitment, as it stands, is a huge barrier black men and women experience entering the medical field. We need to put as much effort recruiting in underrepresented communities as we do in affluent communities. There are so many kids who don’t think that a medical career is even possible for them.

The core of medicine is connection — the relationship that we build with patients and their families. This also applies to recruiting and mentoring the next generation.

From your perspective, can you share a few things that can be done by the community, society, or the government, to help remove those barriers?

One of the most significant steps that is beginning to take place is having open dialogues with colleagues about racism and systemic barriers. It is important for us to listen to our peers and to hear what they’ve personally experienced and witnessed that leads to discussion on how we can better serve and support our patients and each other.

How we educate the next generation of physicians, and retrain the current generation of professionals, is also incredibly important. I’ve served as a mentor for first year medical students and presented grand rounds at universities on cultural sensitivity and awareness. The root of all of this is about keeping an open mind, listening, advocating and supporting others.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started my career in medicine,” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. MAJORING IN SCIENCE IS NOT THE ONLY PATH TO MEDICINE. I attended the college of William and Mary in Virginia where my concentration was biology. I didn’t enjoy it, though I had great professors, I thought this was the best major to get into medical school. I later learned that completing the prerequisites for medical school — one year each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, math and English — was all that was truly required, no matter what your degree. During my final year of medical school, I was privileged to sit on the medical school admissions committee. The committee was seeking applicants who were not only ethnically diverse, but who also represented more diverse backgrounds than biological and physical sciences. The committee was seeking more well-rounded students from areas of the humanities and social sciences, understanding the importance of the people skills needed to foster bedside manner and patient rapport. In retrospect, I would have chosen anthropology, religion, or Spanish as my undergraduate concentration.
2. MY VOICE IS IMPORTANT. We all have a story, a narrative, about our journey. Our stories are not meant to be silenced or sequestered; rather, our stories are meant to be shared. Sharing allows me to express my gratitude to God, but it is also inspirational and encouraging to others who aspire to similar paths. I am excited to partner with my colleagues in the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) for the “Next Generation Scholars” program which seeks to educate medical students, residents, and other medical professions at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’S). Palliative medicine, as a medical subspecialty, is both understaffed and underrepresented from a diversity perspective. Thus, our aim with the “Next Generations Scholars” is to inspire the next generation of palliative medicine physicians representing people of color. I had the opportunity last year to serve as the career mentor for a rising second year student at the Morehouse College of Medicine and have been invited to do the same this year for another rising second year student.
3. THE GLAMOUR OF THE WHITE JACKET FADES QUICKLY THE MORE SEASONED ONE BECOMES IN MEDICINE. However, the mission of service remains. Being able to wear the long white coat has been the much-anticipated rite of passage in medicine. I remember the excitement and the proud feeling of donning it in the hospital. It is indeed the symbol of accomplishment for the young physician. However, medicine is “dirty” — it requires time, sacrifice, difficult conversations, and stamina. The white jacket does not reflect the true depth of what medicine is really is.
4. THE ROLE OF A PHYSICIAN IS QUITE SPIRITUAL. It has been instrumental in understanding my greater purpose. I have had many experiences that allowed for deep introspection yielding greater self-awareness, further solidifying my desire to help people, to minister to them in medical service, and to care. This is what lead me into palliative medicine.
5. THE SCOPE OF MEDICINE IS BROAD. I started my career in a rural private practice and later transitioned to practicing hospital-based medicine as a hospitalist. My calling to palliative medicine came after eight years of practice in these settings before pursuing a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship at the national institutes of health and capital caring hospice. I have been practicing palliative medicine now for the last 12–13 years. My medical curiosity has led me into the study of bioethics as I am completing the first year of a two year part-time master’s degree at Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. I also am interested in theology as I understand that medicine attends to whole-person care — body, mind, and soul.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would encourage people to live their lives with compassion, empathy, and a modicum of humility — as we pause to consider what others might be experiencing, what challenges and hardships they might be going through, to think about our own actions of behaviors if we found ourselves situated similarly. These attributes could erode walls of division that exist among us.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would be honored to spend some time with 44th President Obama and First Lady Michelle. They are not only exemplars of hard work and dedication — they too, represent the face of change and possibilities.

How can our readers best continue to follow your work online?

I recently established a foundation — the Sedgwick-Fullwood Legacy Foundation, Inc — as a means to provide scholarships to black students in pursuit of higher education. The foundation is named in the honor of my maternal grandparents and paternal grandparents, respectively. I am currently in the process of creating the webpage, stay tuned! However, you can also follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-l-reaves-iii-20874627/

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.