Name: Neda Izadyar
Year: 4th
Major: Human Biology
Position: Lead Coordinator
Biography: As a freshman I ended up taking this course, Disparities in Healthcare, by chance and ended up discovering how much my passions aligned with the goals of this course. I ended up joining the DIM team that year, and have held positions as both Class Manager and Public Relations Coordinator in my two years as a DIM Student Coordinator. Once I graduate, I envision myself pursuing a career in the medical field as a physician, however, I also have a deep passion for humanities and social equality and hope to carry the lessons I have learned from DIM into my career. Currently, I am also volunteering in various departments at a local hospital and am also the Advocacy/Community Outreach Coordinator for Global Medical Training. Apart from academics, I love hiking, collecting vintage comic books, and playing with my puppy.
What Diversity Means to Me: To me, diversity serves as a way of broadening our frame of view to incorporate people of all religions, colors, and genders into our society. I believe that diversity involves acceptance and equal treatment of all individuals, particularly in the healthcare setting–an idea that will be explored throughout this course.
What I Gained from the Class: It’s extremely hard to put down all that I have learned from this class into a short paragraph, so I’ll stick with one that one of our previous directors, Dr. Mojgan Sami herself told us … “there is only one race and that is the human race.” I believe this to my core and I hope that through this course you will be able to see why this is so crucial to the well-being of minority groups across the nation and around the world.