From Coast to Coast - Addiction, Research, and Alzheimer's

San Diego, CA

Third year of residency has started off with a bang. I spent a few days in July at a research meeting in Minneapolis and another few days in DC for the REACH orientation program (Recognizing and Eliminating disparities in Addiction through Culturally informed Healthcare). In early August, I was fortunate to travel to San Diego for the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. To the right is the view from my hotel room. Isn't this unreal? 

Minneapolis

I flew to Minneapolis in early July for the Diversifying CNS Workshop, a program that is committed to retaining diverse investigators (including underrepresented minorities) in neuroscience research. It was nice not to experience the chilling winter weather that the Midwest is known for. In July, the sun was out, it was 70s, and the breeze felt amazing on my face (unlike in North Carolina where it is currently 90s and very sticky and humid). It was a refreshing time learning about the neuroscience research that the other participants (post-docs, early-stage investigators, and graduate students) are carrying out in their careers. The support and advice we offered to each other, as well as the community-building activities, were energizing. Outside of our 2-day meeting, I'm grateful for the chance to meet with a friend from high school who is currently a medical student at the University of Minnesota. We grabbed food from French Meadow, a nice, organic, cafe and bakery in Minneapolis. I am not a vegetarian, but the veggie burger from this place was the absolute bomb. On another night, I ordered takeout from Tea House, a popular Chinese restaurant nearby the Graduate Hotel. That Chinese food was also pretty bomb.

DC

After the 2-day stay in Minneapolis, I returned to NC for my afternoon Neurology clinic, then drove to DC the following morning to attend the orientation for REACH. REACH is an Addiction program that strives to build the capacity of the workforce to better care for racial and ethnic minoritized patients with substance use disorders. REACH stands for Recognizing and Eliminating Disparities in Addiction through Culturally Informed Healthcare. 

This orientation was much more broadly applicable to my career and personal life than I realized. Our discussion about the social determinants of mental health, in particular, completely transformed how I should be thinking about the broader policies and structures that contributed significantly to the inequities and disparities we are seeing in healthcare. It was incredible to hear Dr. Ruth Shim (from UC Davis, who actually gave one of the Duke Psych Grand Rounds) discuss how it is actually more important for us to consider the social determinants of health and the policies and structures that have affected our patients. 

San Diego - Alzheimer's Association International Conference

Finally, I left for San Diego very early the morning after a two-week stint on the consults service at the end of July. Highlights include the view from my hotel room (see photo above), networking, meeting people from all over the world (there were >7,000 registrants for the conference), learning about the latest research in the field of Alzheimer's, and the amazing jerk chicken I ordered from the Rock Steady Jamaican Restaurant. Am I crazy to not have known that there are Jamaicans in San Diego?! They make up a small part of the population, though. 

It was wonderful also meeting with a friend from medical school who is currently in residency at UC San Diego. We went to Oscar's Mexican Seafood, and the shrimp tacos were to die for. Ice cream at the Baked Bear also comes highly recommended.