Award winner learned about community service at young age
Dr. 雷金纳德·罗宾逊用类比来向他的病人传达心脏健康的信息. 如果他们对他的建议嗤之以鼻,他可能会问他们往汽车里加的是哪种汽油.
Surprised, they tell him regular or maybe premium.
"Why not diesel?" he'll ask.
“医生,”他们更惊讶地说,“你知道那样会把我的车弄坏的."
He will nod and look them in the eye.
"Whether it's cigars or fast food or sugar, you're putting the wrong things into your body," he tells them. “把你的身体当作你的车,在轮胎没气、化油器坏掉之前做好。."
Maybe they'll listen; maybe they won't. But he's not giving up on them. He will keep using analogies. He will use tough love. He will talk to them without talking down to them. He will tell them, in their churches, on local radio stations or on the TV news shows they watch, 他看到的80%的病症可以通过生活方式来改变.
This is his mission, one that runs deep.
“心血管疾病是导致死亡的主要原因,”罗宾逊说. “如果我能让不懂的人明白,让他们意识到, that's what I want to do."
罗宾逊将于5月2日(星期四)在美国心脏协会的在线全国志愿者奖颁奖典礼上获奖 ceremony, from 6 to 8 p.m. Central.
拥有莫尔豪斯学院的本科学位和霍华德大学医学院的医学学位, 罗宾逊遵循了这些历史悠久的黑人大学向学生灌输的服务传统.
他说:“我们希望你能利用你的学位来帮助你的社区。. "It's drilled into you."
Robinson graduated from Morehouse in 1991, the same year he lost his mother to lung cancer and a brother to HIV. With too much going on to even think about medical school, Robinson moved to New York to work with his uncle, a psychiatrist.
罗宾逊说:“我很敬佩他治疗病人的方式,包括哈莱姆区的孩子们。. "I thought, 'Maybe I can do something like that.'"
When he started medical school, he perpetuated the caring but not the field, 选择心脏病学是因为黑人社区的心脏病发病率很高. (Black people are 30 percent more likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from heart disease.) He decided against his first choice, cardiac surgery, because "by the time people get to that point, they've already had the worst outcomes."
Plus, he wanted to connect to people in the Black community.
“我看到的大多数非裔美国患者可能从未见过像他们这样的专业人士," Robinson said.
在他职业生涯的早期,他参加了黑人教堂的健康博览会. That's where he became connected to the American Heart Association. Twenty years later, 罗宾逊刚刚结束了他作为美国心脏协会东部州委员会主席的任期,并且是美国心脏协会大华盛顿地区委员会的前任主席.
Dr. Robinson is an advocate and champion for heart health. 他支持美国心脏协会的立法优先事项,并与华盛顿的政策制定者保持联系. 他参与了一些重大活动,比如去年国会的飞行活动,支持农业法案中的营养安全计划,以及获得aed.
As a trusted voice, he consistently champions the American Heart Association's mission, engaging diverse audiences, including external organizations like the Links Incorporated, the Association of Black Cardiologists and BlackDoctor.org.
他说:“在成为一个口号之前,该协会有一个健康公平的平台。. “你的邮政编码会影响你的健康——不仅仅是你的饮食习惯和久坐线上电子游戏飞禽走兽, 无论你住在肮脏的地方还是空气质量不好的地方. 或者你生活在食物沙漠中,很难得到新鲜的食物, or somewhere you're afraid to go outside and walk."
Robinson talks to patients as if they're family members.
"This is a team sport," he reminds them. "I can't do it without your participation. There is no magic pill."
He considers himself a positive person, 但当病人不断做出同样的消极选择时,他感到沮丧. Yet they return to him, often referring friends and relatives. He also counts former professors among his patients.
"Those referrals tell how much they trust you," said Robinson, 谁会在下班回家之前给那些可能正在等待检查结果或对自己的病情感到紧张的病人打电话.
"I am humbled and gratified."
He never tires of talking to patients about heart health. 因为——就像一个70多岁的女人告诉罗宾逊她听了他的话, lost 20 pounds and feels so much better – they are listening.