This year March 20, 2020, marked the National Resident Matching Program’s annual day where thousands of medical students and graduates (44,959) from across the U.S. and around the world learned the U.S. residency programs that they would have the opportunity to train at for the next three to seven years. However, as the students and graduates would learn where they matched, days prior the coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared pandemic and states across the nation in addition to countries across the world would begin to put strict social distancing measures into place and close down boarders.
While this was occurring, medical doctors across the globe in active practice and retirement would be tasked with taking the frontlines in droves to lead our country safely to the other side of this historic moment in time. During this time, doctors on the frontlines have been tasked with re-engineering healthcare systems, exploring innovative medical practices, and making adaptations to their personal lives to navigate the pandemic’s many challenges. As doctors on the frontlines have engaged in this new landscape, the environment has made more salient the disparities that exist for populations of color who have notoriously grappled with limited access to adequate care given that the virus has disproportionately affected Black and Brown communities.