{"id":11420,"date":"2019-11-17T00:19:04","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T00:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=5974"},"modified":"2019-11-17T00:19:04","modified_gmt":"2019-11-17T00:19:04","slug":"living-the-dreams-in-united-states-nigerian-born-naturalized-american-dale-okorodudu-reigns-as-leading-pulmonary-critical-care-physician-with-specialty-in-lung-ailments-in-north-america-establish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/living-the-dreams-in-united-states-nigerian-born-naturalized-american-dale-okorodudu-reigns-as-leading-pulmonary-critical-care-physician-with-specialty-in-lung-ailments-in-north-america-establish\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVING THE DREAMS IN UNITED STATES: Nigerian born Naturalized American, DALE OKORODUDU Reigns as leading  Pulmonary\/Critical Care Physician with specialty in Lung Ailments in North America&#8230;establishes &#8216;Black Men in White Coats&#8217; to counter racism in Texas *Runs a-non-profit  organizing national summits, recording a feature-length documentary film *Determines to singularly drive up the number of young black men in the field of medicine * &#8216;Black men account for only 2.9% of applicants to United States medical schools&#8217;-Association of American Medical Colleges * \u201cWhen somebody closes their eyes and thinks about a black male, they think about either an athlete, a musician, or somebody in prison. We want to add black men in white coats to that stereotype\u201d-Okorodudu *QUOTE: \u201cLet food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food\u201d-Hippocrates  BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN Foreign Bureau Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-4-1024x651.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5975\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-3-1024x609.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5976\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"926\" height=\"934\" src=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5977\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-1-1.jpg 926w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-1-1-297x300.jpg 297w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-1-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-1-1-768x775.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-1-1-860x867.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dr-Dallas-2-618x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5978\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LIVING\nTHE DREAMS IN UNITED STATES:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nigerian\nborn Naturalized American, DALE OKORODUDU Reigns as leading \nPulmonary\/Critical Care Physician with specialty in Lung Ailments in\n<\/strong><strong>North\nAmerica<\/strong><strong>&#8230;establishes\n&#8216;Black Men in White Coats&#8217; to counter racism in Texas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*Runs\na-non-profit  organizing national summits, recording a feature-length\ndocumentary film<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*Determines\nto singularly drive up the number of young black men in the field of\nmedicine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*\n&#8216;Black men account for only 2.9% of applicants to United States\nmedical schools&#8217;-Association of American Medical Colleges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*\n\u201cWhen somebody closes their eyes and thinks about a black male,\nthey think about either an athlete, a musician, or somebody in\nprison. We want to add black men in white coats to that\nstereotype\u201d-Okorodudu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*QUOTE:\n\u201cLet food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food\u201d-Hippocrates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>BY\nGEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN Foreign Bureau Chief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HE\nIS A STORY OF SUCCESS FROM ALL INDICATIONS. Soft-spoken DALE\nOKORODUDU,  a legal immigrant from Nigeria who relocated to United\nStates is presently living his dreams of positively impacting the\nyouths, fighting racism and encouraging more black men to aspire into\nthe field of medicine. In North America, this happily married\nNigerian-American is a leader in Pulmonary and Critical Care\nPhysician with huge specialty in lung ailments cure. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This\ngodly, humble medical practitioner champions empowerment for black\nmen to study medicine. He is leading the North Texas doctor&#8217;s\ndiversity mission: More &#8216;Black Men in White Coats.&#8217; Without doubt,\nOkorodudu is devoted to driving up the number of young black men in\nthe field of medicine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Certainly,\nthis medical expert<\/strong>\nappears to be a perfectly ordinary guy: He has a mortgage, a wife and\nthree young children whom he carts around in a black Kia Sorento.The\nCarrollton resident is a pulmonary and critical care physician who\njuggles running a nonprofit, organizing national summits and \u2014 most\nrecently \u2014 planning a feature-length documentary film.\nNot\nso ordinary, after all.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okorodudu\u2019s\nactivities are devoted to the singular goal of driving up the number\nof young black men in the field of medicine. His words:\u201cWhen\nsomebody closes their eyes and thinks about a black male, they think\nabout either an athlete, a musician, or somebody in prison. We want\nto add black men in white coats to that stereotype.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dr. Dale Okorodudu, Black Men In White Coats Episode 13\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JHbhpk3PTvY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly\nfive decades after the civil rights movement, black men account for\nonly 2.9% of applicants to \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S.\nmedical schools, according to the Association of American Medical\nColleges, or AAMC. The statistic&#8217;s damaging consequences are many:\nworse outcomes for black patients, mistrust between patients and\ndoctors, and the implicit message that black men don&#8217;t belong in the\nclinic.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>He\nrecalled when he was once a bit embarrassed by one of his patients<\/strong>\n\u2014 himself a black man \u2014 thought that the bespectacled,\nsoft-spoken man at his bedside was hospital transportation staff, not\nhis physician,\u201cI\nthink he was embarrassed, a little bit.\u201d\nAt\na recent local storytelling event, Okorodudu, who grew up outside of\nHouston, talked about the experiences that shaped him as an aspiring\nmedical student. There was the unsolicited judgment from a perfect\nstranger on an airplane, the racial epithets hurled by professors,\nnot to mention the patient who doubted his professional abilities \u2014\nall because of the color of his skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> \u201cInsecurity.\nPowerlessness. Feeling unwanted. When you are trying to get into a\nfield that is as difficult as the medical field, these are barriers\nthat make it very hard to be successful,\u201d Okorodudu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"You&#039;re Invited to the Black Men In White Coats Summit\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/847xjknXYL4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So\nOkorodudu is spreading a different message through his website, Black\nMen in White Coats. The site is a one-stop resource portal that has\nsupported hundreds of young black students through a mentorship\nprogram, stories highlighting the career paths of successful health\nprofessionals and information about career-building opportunities.\n\u201cWe aim to inspire and give people hope. Black Men in White Coats\nis there to say. You can be a doctor\u201d, says Okorodudu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hope\ncame alive for this Nigerian native in\nthe form of mentor figures and advocates he met along the way. To\nstart: his family. \u201cMy parents are not medical doctors, but they\nare Nigerian immigrants\u201d with high expectations, he says. As the\nyoungest child, he watched his older siblings exceed their parents\u2019\nhigh academic standards with advanced degrees in computer science,\nmedicine and law. When Okorodudu set off for college at the\nUniversity of Missouri, he was guided by emeritus associate professor\nof pathology Dr. Ellis Ingram.  Highly motivated by his own medical\nschool experience in a post-Jim Crow South, Ingram would host early\nweekend morning meetings for minority students applying to medical\nschool. For Ingram,  \u201cIf they\u2019re staying up partying all night,\nthey didn\u2019t come, but   Okorodudu was one of those students who\nwould show up.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not\nonly did he show up to show how serious he is to his studies, but\nalso made a mental note to pay it forward. After completing medical\nschool at Missouri, he moved to Duke University for his medical\nresidency training. There, he started his own mentorship program.\n\u201cI\nthought: There are so many kids who I should be able to easily mentor\nwho are still in Missouri,\u201d he says. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\nreached into his network and started an impromptu mentorship program\nthat paired younger students with seasoned medical workers through\nmonthly discussions and activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But\nthere was still more to do. In 2013, Okorodudu came across an AAAMC\nreport stating that the percentage of black men applying to medical\nschool in 2011 was actually lower than in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe\nstudy emphasized that we had to reach more people,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd\nthe best way I knew how was to put out a video.\u201d So he did. By May\n2013, his fledgling mentorship program had evolved into Black Men in\nWhite Coats, a combination of in-person advising and virtual\ninspiration through videos. Okorodudu&#8217;s videos have reached even\nthose studying the issue, including Dr. Marc Nivet, executive vice\npresident for institutional advancement at UT Southwestern Medical\nCenter and former chief diversity officer for AAMC. Nivet was\nimpressed by Okorodudu&#8217;s efforts, as well as his unique perspective.\n\u201cThere are a lot of passionate people about a lot of issues, so it\ntakes somebody to have the aptitude and the attitude to be\nsuccessful,\u201d says Nivet. What sets Okorodudu apart is that \u201che\nrealizes and appreciates that as he\u2019s climbing, he has to lift\nothers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After finishing his residency, Okorodudu returned to Texas, where\nhe sees patients out of the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center.\nIn addition, he performs administrative duties and directs a program\nfor underrepresented minorities in medicine at the UT Southwestern\nMedical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Black Men in White Coats has grown to include a podcast\nand summit whose inaugural meeting in February \u2014 Black History\nMonth \u2014 drew over 1,800 registrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nmentorship that Okorodudu received during his professional journey\ngave him the confidence to excel and dream big. So big, in fact, that\nnobody questions his latest endeavor, a Kickstarter campaign to fund\na Black Men in White Coats documentary. The campaign was promoted on\nNBC&#8217;s <em>Today <\/em>show\nand has raised over 70% of its $100,000 goal. The campaign ends July\n26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Whatever he says, he&#8217;s going to do it!&#8221; laughs his\nwife, Dr. Janai Okorodudu, who practices family medicine. In college,\n&#8220;the first thing he told me was that he&#8217;d get a 4.0 GPA as a\npre-med,&#8221; she says. But, &#8220;after he got a 4.0, I stopped\ndoubting him.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to his family, Dale Okorodudu was single-minded from the\nstart. On a recent Monday evening, he was at the Plano Sports\nAuthority coaching the basketball team that includes his older son\nand nephew. Watching from the sidelines was his brother, computer\nscientist Tony Okorodudu, who recalled a young Dale&#8217;s obsession with\njoining the NBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There\nwas a point in time when my parents banned Dale from mentioning the\nword &#8216;basketball,'&#8221; said Tony, &#8220;because he talked about it\nso much in elementary school.&#8221; Okorodudu&#8217;s boyhood dreams have\nmorphed into a familiar focus and determination. Just before\nhalf-time, Janai had to tone down his enthusiastic coaching. &#8220;Calm\ndown!&#8221; she called from the bleachers. &#8220;You&#8217;re going to get\nejected!&#8221; It&#8217;s\nall part of Okorodudu&#8217;s hopes for his 8-year-old son. &#8220;I want to\nbuild up his confidence,&#8221; he says. &#8220;And I want that\nconfidence on the court to translate into the rest of his life.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And will Okorodudu ever take it easy, either on or off the court?\nHopefully, he says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you want to\nput yourself out of a job,\u201d he says. \u201cIf our efforts aren\u2019t\nneeded in five, 10 years, that\u2019d be amazing.\u201d  Without doubt,\nOkorodudu is a role model to African-Americans, Black Americans and\nAfricans aspiring to become medical doctors. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LIVING THE DREAMS IN UNITED STATES: Nigerian born Naturalized American, DALE OKORODUDU Reigns as leading Pulmonary\/Critical Care Physician with specialty in Lung Ailments in North America&#8230;establishes &#8216;Black Men in White Coats&#8217; to counter racism in Texas *Runs a-non-profit organizing national summits, recording a feature-length documentary film *Determines to singularly drive up the number of young [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}