The college’s Minority Health Month speaker series continues Thursday, April 7, when Darrell L. Grace, D.O., lectures at noon in Irvine 199. Grace’s lecture, “A New Paradigm: Trust and Parity Through Cultural Competency,” will examine the health status and conditions of African Americans from their arrival as indentured servants and slaves in the early history of the settlement of this country by Europeans, through slavery, and after the Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction to the present.

Grace, a graduate of Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, is in private practice with Forum Health and the medical director of Windsor Nursing home. She is also a Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education clinical professor and medical equity teacher. She established Grace Place Medical Service, a clinic for the underserved, uninsured and underinsured, in association with the Greater Youngstown Coalition of Christians.

“I’ll also discuss what cultural competency is and the importance of it,” says Grace. Teaching physicians to understand and appreciate the differences between majority and non-majority patients that can affect doctor-patient relations and clinical outcomes means teaching doctors not to be colorblind, she says.

Health disparities experienced by minorities will also be examined by Grace. “African Americans can have the same insurance as whites and go for medical treatment and still not receive the same treatment,” says Grace.

Grace’s presentation will be the second of the series in April, designated Minority Health Month. The series is sponsored by the Center of Excellence for Multicultural Medicine and the Office of Student Affairs.

On April 5, Ronald Myers, M.D., opened the month-long observation of Minority Health Month with the presentation, “The Challenge of Providing Health Care for the Poor.” On Monday, April 11, Nicholas Espinoza, D.O. (’90), will present “Pediatric Obesity: A Community Perspective” followed by Chau Pham, D.O., (’95), presenting “Ethnogeriatrics: The Southeast Asian Culture” Friday, April 22. Former OU-COM Dean Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O., will conclude the series Thursday, April 28, with her presentation, “Wrap-Up: Policy and Health Disparities.” Ross-Lee is currently dean of New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine.

All presentations are from noon to 1 p.m. in 199 Irvine Hall. For more information, please contact De-Anthony King, academic enrichment administrator, at (740) 593-2465.