Just like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. service is a big part of UConn School of Medicine\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
That is why once again with its medical students help, UConn is hosting a weeklong Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lecture Series for its medical students January 20-28. The MLK Jr. Lecture Series will highlight community organizations and experts that reflect the spirit of service and outreach championed by Dr. King.<\/p>\n
The week of events will culminate in the second annual Service and Advocacy Summit <\/strong>on January 26 in Low Auditorium at UConn Health from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.<\/strong> with a keynote lecture delivered by Connecticut-based psychiatry expert Dr. Carmen Black, MD MHS-Med Ed<\/strong> on the topic: \u201cAlready to Action: A Critical Appraisal of Health Equity Change Agents within Medical Professionalism.\u201d<\/em> The keynote event is open to the UConn and UConn Health community wishing to attend.<\/p>\n As we mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2026, some of the many UConn medical students organizing and participating in the special MLK Jr. Lecture Series shared their personal reflections on MLK, Jr. and the importance of carrying on his legacy of public service.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting to intimately know our community by serving those in need is the cornerstone of healthcare. As physicians, it is our imperative to be advocates for all aspects of patient, well-being, including social, emotional, and spiritual, and we can only do so by immersing ourselves in our community through service,\u201d says Christine Kao, SOM Class of 2026,\u00a0of Stamford, Conn.<\/p>\n \u201cCarrying on MLK Jr.\u2019s work and legacy to me as medical student means pursuing opportunities that were only made possible by those that came before me and fought for my right to be in these spaces. It also means keeping the patients and communities that look like me at the forefront of my mind as I continue my educational journey so that I can ensure that I\u2019m making a difference, as a representative of not only UConn School of Medicine but as a reflection of my personal and professional values around justice,\u201d says \u201cTo me, honoring Dr. King\u2019s legacy means serving my community, continuously fighting for equity in all facets of life, and amplifying voices that have long been marginalized. As students and future physicians, it is essential that we learn with and work alongside community organizations,\u201d says Katrina Jackson, SOM Class of 2027, from Santa Cruz, California.<\/p>\n \u201cCarrying on Dr. King\u2019s legacy means helping build a culture that values justice for all\u2014across education, medicine, and every form of equity. Bringing together and working alongside our local community organizations has been a constant source of inspiration in that journey,\u201d says Uma Mehta, SOM Class of 2027, from Simsbury, Conn.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, carrying on Dr. King\u2019s legacy of racial equity and justice as a medical student means pursuing legislative advocacy that protects the health of communities most vulnerable to severe climate events, and joining our voices with patients whose health is closely linked to their environment in order to bring about change that targets root causes of chronic diseases,\u201d says Stefan Marczuk, SOM Class of 2027, of Durham, Conn.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a future physician being trained in a moment when intolerance is brazenly spoken aloud without apology, I\u2019m reminded that now more than ever our calling is to choose love and community over the fear and hatred systems of power still try to sustain. Carrying forward Dr. King\u2019s legacy means honoring his courage by continuing the work of showing up, listening deeply, speaking out, and building alongside those most harmed by injustice,\u201d says Ryan Hannon, SOM Class of 2026, from Cheshire, Conn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The next generation of doctors training at UConn share how they are carrying on Dr. King\u2019s legacy of helping others. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":240105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2388,1868,179,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-240103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-healthcare-workforce","category-meds","category-uconn-health","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 06:24:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240103"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240106,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240103\/revisions\/240106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/240105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240103"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=240103"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=240103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOlasubomi Ayomini Ajayi, SOM Class of 2028, of Washington, New Jersey.<\/p>\n