My professor offered me the opportunity to assist in his sexual and reproductive health research after seeing my enthusiasm for medicine shine through my multimedia expertise. A part of his research was the “Sex Café Podcast”. I had been presented with the task of managing the social media channels, marketing, and overall rebranding of the podcast. I was thrilled to be a part of a project that brought in a diversity of perspectives to discuss issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health. During my first week of research, I listened to every episode. I took note of meaningful quotes, resources, and more. From there I curated photos, videos, and graphics to share and educate our audience on social media.

 

Each episode of the podcast brought on different clinicians, community leaders, and researchers from all walks of life to discuss the intersectionality of sexuality and different identities like race, religion, being a menstruator, specific age groups, and more. As I listened to each episode I learned more about underrepresented communities. This was a truly eye-opening experience that made me define my mission to pursue medicine. Many of these communities face a variety of barriers in healthcare.  As a person of color, I understand the cultural context that needs to be considered when providing care to a client. It is a crucial factor to ensure that the patients feel comfortable and are communicated to in a way that is appropriate to the communities they identify with. Representation matters and I would like to be the one to uplift the underserved, overlooked, and misunderstood communities to ensure that all individuals are given the chance to receive quality healthcare.
 

In this era of technological advancements, social media has allowed individuals to reach audiences all across the globe and connect with others in a way that was never before imagined. Working on this podcast has exemplified that the dissemination of knowledge through social media plays a vital role in educating the younger generations. As a future doctor, I also want to use my platform and expertise to educate the general population about topics that may be difficult to navigate without having medical literacy. I have made it one of my goals to make information regarding medicine more palatable and accessible to the everyday individual. Knowledge is power and I intend to utilize my platform to bridge the gap in communication between clinicians and patients.