Beyond Public Health, Pit Bulls, and Pimps: Lessons in Trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Hope

By: Gerard Clancy, MD, professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, and president, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa In my recently published Academic Medicine commentary, “Understanding Deficiencies of Leadership in Advancing Health Equity: A Case of Pit Bulls, Public Health and Pimps,” I described my evolution in developing relationships with a community in need, as we built the new Wayman Tisdale Specialty Health Clinic in north Tulsa over more than a decade. I have now been caring for patients in an adult psychiatry clinic since we opened 20 months ago. The clinic is located in the heart of north Tulsa, where there is a 14-year difference in life expectancy compared to the more southern parts of our city. This area was previously devoid of specialty care and had very limited access to primary care. As we developed the plans for the clinic, the north Tulsa citizens clearly let us know that they wanted more than health care from the University of Oklahoma. They wanted new jobs and economic development. In this post, I describe how we continue to learn the important roles a university can play in urban revitalization at the broadest and most personal levels. The business community and the City of Tulsa prioritized the location of our clinic for additional investments as a new “health corridor.” A new private primary care clinic and new retail businesses have opened across the street. A mobile grocery store uses ou...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Featured Guest Perspective adverse childhood experiences community engagement mental illness University of Oklahoma urban revitalization Wayman Tisdale Specialty Clinic Source Type: blogs