Events & Calendars Alumni-in-Residence: An Introduction to the African American History of Medicine, with Dr. Will Turner '94

What is the legacy of African American medical professionals at Amherst, and what can we learn from their stories and those of other pioneers in medicine that informs clinical care and medical education today?

Dr. Will Turner ’94 is a practicing hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Turner's professional interests have been informed by the intersections of medicine and African American health and history, an interdisciplinary approach that he gained from his Black studies major at Amherst.

Dr. Turner is passionate about learning from the legacies of African American physicians and scientists, and connecting their stories to his work as associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and assistant dean for student affairs and faculty advisor for the Black and Latino Student Organization at Columbia University’s Vagelos School of Physicians and Surgeons, in order to mentor the next generation of health professionals who come from groups historically underrepresented in medicine and to address the persistent, urgent need for more diverse health professionals today.

Join Dr. Turner to hear about such storied Amherst alumni as Dr. Charles Drew and Dr. Montague Cobb, along with clinical vignettes that he has encountered in his time as an internist, and the way that Amherst’s liberal arts education both propelled Dr. Turner to a career in medicine and continues to inform his care of patients.

This Alumni-in-Residence event is hosted by Amherst College's Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning. To learn more about the program and this semester's lineup, visit amherst.edu/go/air.