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US-based organisation known as Reseau Docteur, a French connotation for ‘Doctors Network’, is said to planning to change the narrative and negative image attributed to blacks, not only in the US but wherever they are domiciled.
The organisation founded by a Nigerian, Dr. Alexander Oladele, in actual sense, is said to be borderless and could involve anyone regardless of geographical location.
While explaining the big idea behind formation of the Reseau Docteur, the founder also highlighted the group’s achievements since it berthed in 2015. He said it was primarily formed as a social media page that has metamorphosed into a community of professionals impacting their world.
“The goal of forming Reseau Docteur was to reverse the psychological impact that was affecting many African Americans at a point where a lot of black men were getting killed. Sadly, many of these images and interactions with police were televised. You can only imagine what happens to a people’s mental health after watching their own people become the victims of police brutality over and over again.
“We started Reseau Docteur with the intention of displaying positive images of black men and women in a variety of careers including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law etc. With time the organisation began to grow and today, we have much more than just a social media page. We have built a community of minority professionals where we can continue to share our visions.”
He noted that Reseau Docteur started through a social media page but has become a society of black professionals who impact their society through knowledge and mentorship. And they have real good news to share about their activities. ‘There have been so many amazing moments. One of our proudest is our yearly mentorship programme where we provide mentorship to students all over the country by way of online webinar-based discussions. It’s an 8-10 week programme and each topic is presented by a doctor or a professional student within our network. This programme is for students who are interested in professional careers such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and to date we have awarded over 200+ students with certificates of completion. “Another highlight is when, through the help of our social media community, I was able to raise over $6,000 within three days for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit US mainland. “Members of our team then flew to Texas following the aftermath to provide money to the victims as well as aid during their time of difficulty,” Oladele stated.
“America needs more black doctors and there is a wealth of data that shows that African Americans are more likely to trust a healthcare system when the health provider actually looks like them. There is a huge gap within the healthcare community and it’s due to a lack of diversity.
“To date, Reseau Docteur has been an incredible resource for many professionals. We have provided referrals for employment opportunities, provided scholarships to students matriculating into college and also partnered various organisations to amplify the importance of mentorship. While the organisation began in 2015 simply as a network that featured just health professionals, we changed our strategy to include those in law, engineering and a variety of other disciplines to be more inclusive.”
