{"id":100314,"date":"2023-05-02T09:40:01","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T13:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=100314"},"modified":"2024-01-02T15:33:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T20:33:05","slug":"seeking-systemic-change","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2023\/seeking-systemic-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking Systemic Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-flip has-box has-media-focus-left-middle has-secondary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1100\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Kaye-Alese Green (LAW&#039;25, MED&#039;25) stands in front of a blooming tree on BU&#039;s campus\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-466x636.jpg 466w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-751x1024.jpg 751w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-768x1047.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-606x826.jpg 606w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-500x682.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-757x1032.jpg 757w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-969x1321.jpg 969w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-252x344.jpg 252w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-388x529.jpg 388w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-505x688.jpg 505w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-776x1058.jpg 776w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-1000x1364.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/kaye-alese-green-portrait-733x1000.jpg 733w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by Marlisa Payne<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Health Law<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeeking Systemic Change\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Kaye-Alese Green (LAW\u201925, MED\u201925) wants to leverage law and medicine to create spaces where people can thrive.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 2, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/rebecca-beyer\/\">Rebecca Beyer<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-boxed has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-secondary has-dropcap-color-quinary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>This May, when students graduate from the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/\" target=\"_blank\">Boston University Chobanian &amp; Avedisian School of Medicine<\/a> (MED), among the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/files\/2022\/03\/MEPOs-Nov-2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">core competencies<\/a> they will have achieved are several focused on equity, including: an ability to describe differences in health outcomes and disease burden due to inequities in health care; to understand historical and current drivers of racism, sexism, oppression, and marginalization; and to explain how one\u2019s own identity influences their perspective and decision-making. That&#8217;s thanks in part to the work of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kayealese\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kaye-Alese Green<\/a> (LAW\u201925, MED\u201925).<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Green helped develop those learning objectives as MED\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/2021\/08\/27\/meet-kaye-alese-green-busms-inaugural-diversity-fellow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inaugural diversity fellow<\/a> in 2020. Because institutional learning objectives are only modified every decade or so, the curriculum changes will remain in place long after she\u2019s left the campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m one person; I\u2019m a drop in the ocean,\u201d she says. \u201cBut this was an opportunity to create something that will impact thousands of students and [over the course of their careers] millions of patient interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Green was always drawn to medicine\u2014her mother is a nurse and her father is a healthcare executive who has worked at hospitals across the country\u2014but she is also passionate about creating systemic changes like the ones she helped bring about at MED. That\u2019s why she decided to earn a dual degree in medicine and law from MED and Boston University School of Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMedicine is often about immediate repair, and, on occasion, preventative [care],\u201d she explains. \u201cBut we are not always taught to think structurally. I don\u2019t have the patience for a system that continues to get the same results. I would be like, \u2018Why are Jim and I on a first-name basis; why is he in here with another asthma attack? Is it because he lives in a building with mold growing on the walls?\u2019 Nothing in medicine gives me the teeth or skillset to change that. That\u2019s where the law comes in.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style-pop has-secondary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">When you think about law and justice, it feels very clear. But when you get to law school, you realize it\u2019s not clear. Often, [the law] is not on the side of the less fortunate; it\u2019s on the side of the more powerful. I want to know the system well enough to provide knowledge to the less powerful.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Kaye-Alese Green (LAW&#8217;25, MED&#8217;25)<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At BU Law, where Green is finishing her second year, she has tried to focus on classes that address structural systems. She has particularly enjoyed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/about\/offices\/registrar\/course-descriptions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Law &amp; Structural Social Change<\/a> with Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/anna-di-robilant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Anna di Robilant<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/about\/offices\/registrar\/course-descriptions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Critical Civil Procedure<\/a> with Associate Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/portia-pedro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Portia Pedro<\/a>. She is also externing with US District Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t win the game if you don\u2019t know the rules,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you think about law and justice, it feels very clear. But when you get to law school, you realize it\u2019s not clear. Often, [the law] is not on the side of the less fortunate; it\u2019s on the side of the more powerful. I want to know the system well enough to provide knowledge to the less powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Green attended the University of Central Florida. She studied psychology as an undergraduate student and then earned her master\u2019s degree in urban education and public health in 2015. She spent the next few months in Europe working with refugees and migrants and had just accepted a job in Lebanon when the community she was moving to was bombed. After her father called to express his concern, she decided to return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI felt really lost,\u201d she recalls. \u201cYou see people in so much trauma. I really considered, if medicine was worthwhile, knowing it\u2019s a 10-year journey and knowing how much harm is happening now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Green worked for two years in finance at her alma mater before committing to BU. In her first year of medical school, she helped create the Racism in Medicine Vertical Integration Group (VIG), which spent a year poring over the school\u2019s textbooks and slides to look for content that discussed race inappropriately. After the group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/files\/2021\/06\/Racism-in-Medicine-VIG-Final-Report-ExecSummary.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published a 200-page report<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.lww.com\/academicmedicine\/Fulltext\/2022\/06000\/Deconstructing_Racism,_Hierarchy,_and_Power_in.36.aspx\">an accompanying paper<\/a> about its findings, Green pitched the idea of taking a year off to help the school implement some of their recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve found that strategic plans are very expensive paper weights unless someone is hired to put them in place,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As MED\u2019s diversity fellow, she worked full time helping the school rethink its curriculum, adopting the antiracism learning objectives, and creating a glossary for cultural transformation, among other projects. The glossary, which students and faculty can refer to in their work and research, will be re-examined periodically to assess whether terms should be updated or changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe had faculty saying, \u2018We don\u2019t know what to say,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t ask someone to see our common humanity if you don\u2019t have a common language.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last summer, Green was <a href=\"https:\/\/lawmagazine.bc.edu\/2022\/04\/rappaport-center-names-2022-fellows\/\">awarded <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/lawmagazine.bc.edu\/2022\/04\/rappaport-center-names-2022-fellows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/lawmagazine.bc.edu\/2022\/04\/rappaport-center-names-2022-fellows\/\"> fellowship<\/a> by the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy at Boston College Law School. She worked in the healthcare section of the Massachusetts Attorney General\u2019s office on equity issues, including providing research assistance for the office\u2019s multistate amicus brief in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/case-files\/cases\/students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-fellows-of-harvard-college\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pair of affirmative action cases heard by the US Supreme Court in October<\/a>. This year, she has served as the first Black president of the BU <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/student-life\/student-organizations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Women\u2019s Law Association<\/a>, a group that she has tried to make as inclusive as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration.jpg\" alt=\"A group portrait of the attendees at the 2023 Women's Law Association end of year celebration on the steps in the Redstone building atrium\" class=\"wp-image-100403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-466x636.jpg 466w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-751x1024.jpg 751w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-768x1047.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-606x826.jpg 606w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-500x682.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-757x1032.jpg 757w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-969x1321.jpg 969w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-252x344.jpg 252w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-388x529.jpg 388w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-505x688.jpg 505w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-776x1058.jpg 776w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-1000x1364.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/womens-law-association-2023-celebration-733x1000.jpg 733w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><figcaption>In April, the Women&#8217;s Law Association held an inaugural evening of celebration, legacy, and belonging. Attendees wore white in honor of the Suffrage movement and as a symbol of solidarity against forces of oppression in women&#8217;s lives. | Photo by Nicky Thibault<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After completing her 2L year, Green will return to medical school until December 2024. She will then finish her final semester of law school and is scheduled to graduate from both institutions in the spring of 2025. Ultimately, she hopes to work with urban children and their families with a focus on trauma. She says her fellowship at MED \u201csolidified\u201d her sense that the dual degree was the right path for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cBeing in that fellowship during the pandemic and seeing the harms exponentially exacerbated in structurally marginalized communities made it even more clear,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to create space for people to thrive, and that has a lot less to do with [healthcare] and more to do with environment. How can we make neighborhoods safe? Medicine doesn\u2019t offer me all the tools I need. The law does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This May, when students graduate from the Boston University Chobanian &#038; Avedisian School of Medicine (MED), among the core competencies they will have achieved are several focused on equity, including: an ability to describe differences in health outcomes and disease burden due to inequities in health care; to understand historical and current drivers of racism, sexism, oppression, and marginalization; and to explain how one\u2019s own identity influences their perspective and decision-making. That&#8217;s thanks in part to the work of Kaye-Alese Green (LAW\u201925, MED\u201925).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":100395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":99877,\"hed\":\"The 150th Class\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard has-light-overlay has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"99957\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/150th-class-banner_720.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Health Law","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[3900,1663],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3918,3770,3747,4135,3786,3758],"record-topic":[3935,4292],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100314"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100566,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100314\/revisions\/100566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100314"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=100314"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=100314"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=100314"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=100314"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=100314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}