Educate.

Today I, along with a group of first and second year medical students, set up a free diabetes screening booth at a nearby Wal-Mart. The constant stream of people coming to us, willingly getting themselves pricked on a leisurely Sunday afternoon shopping trip, was heartwarming. I realized that these individuals are curious about health and truly want to maintain their own and their family’s as they listened intently to advice on healthy lifestyle changes and took information on diabetes and regular doctor’s visits seriously.

While uplifting, their receptiveness was saddening. It demonstrated that their lack of education about a disease so prevalent and destructive, especially in the Hispanic population, was not their fault. It was because nobody had taught them.

Ignorance is not a choice for most. Our privileged lives with education at our fingertips (literally, how hard is it to type “diabetes” into Wikipedia?), oftentimes makes us forget that our world is not the whole world. This discrepancy can lead us to blame others for their plight instead of understanding the disparities in healthcare and education.

As we grow and excel in our careers we should never take our abilities and facilities for granted. They are not deserved. Instead they are opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others by being the bridge between our worlds.