SUNY Downstate Emergency Medicine Residents to Stage Die-In Against Police Brutality and Health Disparities
By Office of Communications & Marketing | Jun 3, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: John Gillespie | john.gillespie@downstate.edu | (314) 708-9090
Thursday, June 4, 2020 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn
(School of Public Health Entrance)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (June 3, 2020) – Emergency Medicine Residents at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, along with their colleagues across 51 Downstate residency programs, will stage a Die-In on Thursday, June 4, 2020, to call attention to the long and unfortunate history of police brutality and distressing health disparities that continue to grip African Americans and other communities of color in the U.S.
In solidarity against the senseless murders of people of color at the hands of police officers, the residents will lie on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the same amount of time that George Floyd was restrained on the ground until he died.
For more than three months, Downstate residents have been on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 in Brooklyn, the epicenter of the pandemic that has devastated communities of color and already claimed more than 106,000 American lives. More than 90 percent of those who have died of COVID-19 in the three zip codes immediately around Downstate were black.
Speaking in a short ceremony prior to the Die-In will be Rob Gore, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor at SUNY Downstate and founder of Kings Against Violence and Teresa Y. Smith, M.D., M.S. Ed, Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Affiliations. Several Emergency Medicine Residents will also speak.
The Emergency Medicine Residency Program at SUNY Downstate is the largest in the United States, and trains more emergency medicine physicians than any other residency program in the country. In terms of enrollment, the College of Medicine at SUNY Downstate is the largest medical school in the City of New York, and the second largest in the state.
###
About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is the borough’s only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care, and is a 342-bed facility serving the healthcare needs of New York City, and Brooklyn’s 2.6 million residents. University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) is Downstate’s teaching hospital, backed by the expertise of an outstanding medical school and the research facilities of a world-class academic center. More than 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialties—many of them ranked as tops in their fields—comprise Downstate's staff.
A regional center for cardiac care, neonatal and high-risk infant services, pediatric dialysis, and transplantation, Downstate also houses a major learning center for children with physical ailments or neurological disorders. In addition to UHB, Downstate comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at @sunydownstate.