Routine Achieved... at least I hope

t seems that I have finally achieved the delicate balance of routine over my summer break. I just completed my second day at my internship at the Charlotte Coalition for Social Justice, as an Intern for a special Health Disparities Project. I am working 9-5 (at least for the most part) 3 days a week, while the remaining two days of the week are used for my other research project, the one that I am blogging about.

I realized that I am supposed to blog about both my internship AND my research. So I’ve decided to kill two birds with one stone, and blog about them both. Now I have no reason to repeat what I did earlier this week…. That is… not maintain my daily journal as I am supposed to. Hopefully now the sands are beginning to settle on this summer vacation, and I will have time to dedicate to my studies…as opposed to dedicating it all to hanging out with friends!

As I said earlier, I have an internship. I am working on a comparative neighborhood study, analyzing adequate access to health care, and how that has a role in perpetuating health care disparities in my hometown. If you can’t already tell, I’m becoming a nut for race and health, and I’m looking at different aspects of that relationship over the summer. I love what I am doing. The only thing is, I’m getting a taste of corporate life, and I don’t understand how people do it. I mean, sitting on my butt for 8 hours a day, looking at a computer screen? I have always known, that is exactly what I DON’T want to do. I want to have flexibility, move around, talk to different people, and do different things….hopefully I can find a job like that once I complete school.

On to my academic research project. I have had SEVERAL breakthroughs/epiphanies over the last week. I have been reading Under the Knife by Hugh Pearson. I almost finished it over the weekend, but due to work, and an unsettled schedule, it took me almost the entirety of this week to finish the last 30 pages, as well as type up my notes, but I AM DONE with my second book. I think I will move on to Medical Apartheid next, a book about medical experimentation on black people from colonial to present times. It’s very controversial, and looks very interesting, so I can’t wait to read it.

Reading Under the Knife however, I’ve realized several things. One of them being, I had a romanticized notion as to who the African-American physician was in the Jim Crow era, and how he was a Saving Grace Angel sent to save the black community. This book was a candid examination of the life of Joseph Griffin, the first black surgeon in the state of Georgia. The argument of the book, as I take it, is that there are two sides to every story… every legend. Hugh Pearson looked at how family and local legends of Dr. Griffin were romanticized, and often played up his benevolence, however under further inspection Dr. Griffin appears to be one who does not fit into the “good doctor” mold—he was ruthless and seized homes and land from many of his patients who were unable to pay the bills, he broke the law several times, and he performed illegal back-door abortions. This lead me to believe that the literature that I will be looking at could be either two things (or something in between): It could feature a physician/ or physicians who are VERY romanticized in what they provide for the community or those who are not romanticized at all, and provide a more candid look at what it is like to be a physician in the Jim Crow Era. That might be a potential driving question of my research.
Another thing that I have also realized is that I may have been employing the wrong search queries when looking for books and articles. What I failed to realize, is that in the Jim Crow era, and even before then, the black population has gone through several “name changes.” As I have searched for African-American and Black Physicians, I have failed to search for “Colored” or even “Negro” physicians. I feel that employing these terms, which are more connected to the time period in which I am studying will lead me to more books and articles that pertain directly to my research.

I think that is everything for right now. I am beginning my third book for the summer (in the end of my second full week back home). I should pick up the pace, especially sense I have a better understanding of how my time can be organized.

Well, Hopefully I’ll blog tomorrow, and every day after that!
- Until then