The Family Tree Spreads its Limbs: National Academy of Medicine Family Physician New Members 2021

José E. Rodríguez

doi:10.1370/afm.2787

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It is my pleasure to introduce you to and celebrate the accomplishments of Dr Erik Brodt and Dr Kendall Campbell, family physicians who have both been recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine. While this is a great honor for them, it is also an honor for our specialty, and we should recognize that both of these outstanding physicians identify as underrepresented in medicine! To help you get to know these amazing colleagues, I will share some interesting facts about their lives, as well as their internationally recognized work.

Dr Brodt is a citizen of the Ojibwe Nation who grew up in rural Minnesota. He excelled in both school and sports, and after much hard work gained academic and athletic honors in high school. During his undergraduate years, he participated in the University of Minnesota Native Americans Into Medicine Program (NAM) summer program. At that program, he met influential American Indian mentors who led him to pursue medicine. Shortly thereafter, he applied and was accepted to University of Minnesota Duluth School of Medicine, at which point he withdrew all other applications.

Dr Brodt matched in family medicine at Seattle Indian Health Board— Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency, and upon completion of his residency, took a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin.

He established the University of Wisconsin Native American Center for Health Professions (UW-NACHP) and served as the director. Native presence at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW-SMPH) increased by over 800% and Native American applications increased by over 250% during his tenure.

Dr Brodt then moved to Oregon Health Sciences University where he founded and directs the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence. His work has been documented in multiple academic articles, highlighting the profound health inequities in our American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population, and telling medical professionals nationally and internationally how to ensure citizens of tribal nations are welcomed and included in medicine in all its forms.¹ His recent paper on AI/AN identity is a call to action for all of us as we seek to increase Native presence in our medical institutions.² Dr Brodt is also the founder and president of We Are Healers, a nonprofit organization working to increase the number of Native Students pursuing careers in health care.

Dr Kendall Campbell grew up in a rural part of the Florida Panhandle. Extraordinarily studious, he graduated from high school with multiple honors, and became an accomplished musician. In high school, his parents enrolled him in a science and math summer program for underrepresented minority (URM) students. He attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) and while there, participated in Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity and Excellence (SSTRIDE), a premedical pipeline program designed to increase the diversity of medical school matriculants.³ He attended the University of Florida College of Medicine, and completed his family medicine residency at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.

Dr Campbell then joined the faculty at the University of Florida School of Medicine. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Assistant Dean for Diversity. He was subsequently recruited to the Florida State University College of Medicine, where he cofounded and codirected the Center for Underrepresented Minorities in Academic Medicine, a research center dedicated to facilitating the longevity and career development for URM faculty. In addition, he was named a James C. Puffer, MD/American Board of Family Medicine Fellow to the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr Campbell then moved on to Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, where he served as Associate Dean for Diversity and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. He was then recruited to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where he serves as Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. Dr Campbell cofounded the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Leadership through Scholarship Fellowship, where he personally coaches and trains early career family physicians in scholarship, research, and leadership. For more information: https://www.stfm.org/facultydevelopment/fellowships/leadershipthrough-scholarship/faculty/. His recent work has highlighted the importance of equity in diversity efforts to ensure that faculty who are under-represented in medicine are not burdened with excessive uncompensated work in that area.⁴

We here at Annals are extremely proud to count both Dr Brodt and Dr Campbell among our ranks as family physicians and offer our heartiest congratulations for their momentous achievements.

Footnotes

Read or post commentaries in response to this article.

Received for publication December 6, 2021.
Accepted for publication December 6, 2021.

References

1.↵
1. Brodt E,
2. Empey A
. American Indians and Alaska Natives in the COVID-19 pandemic: the grave burden we stand to bear. Health Equity. 2021;5(1):394-397. doi:10.1089/heq.2021.0011
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2.↵
1. Brodt E,
2. Valenzuela S,
3. Empey A, et al.
Measurement of American Indian and Alaska Native racial identity among medical school applicants, matriculants, and graduates, 1996-2017. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(1):e2032550. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.32550
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1. Campbell KM,
2. Rodriguez JE,
3. Berne-Anderson T
. From underrepresented minority high school student to medical school faculty member: how an outreach program changed my life. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2014;25(3):972-5. doi:10.1353/hpu.2014.0137
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4.↵
1. Campbell KM
. The diversity efforts disparity in academic medicine. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(9):doi:10.3390/ijerph18094529
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