Making It Happen: Minorities and Women Making a Difference in Changing the Face of Medicine

Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, vice president for health sciences and medical affairs and dean of NYIT’s New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, has accepted an invitation to participate in "Changing the Face of Medicine." The groundbreaking exhibition, which celebrates women physicians and their contributions to medicine and public health since 1850, opens at The National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in October of 2003 and runs until April 2004.

"Naturally I was delighted by NIH’s invitation to contribute," said Dr. Ross-Lee. "We must never underestimate the role female physicians have played in U.S. medicine over the past century and a half. This exhibition will attract thousands of visitors and perhaps inspire young people, especially women, to pursue professional careers in medicine."

A floor exhibit at the event will profile Dr. Ross-Lee, the first woman of color to lead a U.S. medical school, and other noteworthy American women physicians. The exhibition, located at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., also will include historic artifacts, textile displays, audiovisual presentations and interactive digital systems that showcase women physicians’ life stories.

The first generation of women physicians struggled for access to education, hospital internships and medical societies 150 years ago. Through the years women have challenged and overcome racial prejudice and gender bias to gain the professional opportunities and recognition they so richly deserve. In addition to a companion interactive DVD, the NIH is developing an online version of the project and producing several public programs.

The free exhibition and its online presence are funded entirely by the U.S. government.

As Vice President Dr. Ross-Lee has responsibilities across NYIT’s three primary New York-area campuses in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in the Life Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Clinical Nutrition and Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Ross-Lee, D.O., FACOFP, came to NYIT from Ohio University where she served as dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine from 1993 to 2001. She is one of the first women in the nation to head a medical school and the first woman of color to do so. She is the first osteopathic physician to participate in the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy fellowship, serving as legislative assistant for health to former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. She holds a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Michigan State University, bachelor and master’s degrees from Wayne State University, and honorary Doctor of Science degrees from NYIT and Medgar Evers College. She has served on several national committees and Chair of the Board of Governors of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and is chair-elect of the Board of the Association of Academic Health Centers.

New York Institute of Technology is an independent, comprehensive college that offers, through eight schools, more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. NYIT currently educates approximately 11,000 students on three metro-New York campuses — in Old Westbury and Central Islip, Long Island and Manhattan, near Lincoln Center — and one virtual campus via the Internet. More than 62,000 alumni have received degrees from NYIT.