Shekinah Elmore’s first cancer—rhabdomyosarcoma, diagnosed at the age of seven—was a relatively mild case. When it recurred more strongly in her teens, she received much more intensive therapy—radiation, chemo and surgery.
Rather than let her illnesses defeat her, Elmore drew strength from her challenges, gaining insights into the power of empathy and the importance of a holistic approach to providing medical care.
Ultimately, Elmore discovered in herself a passion for medicine and health care that has led to the third-year Harvard Medical School student being named a 2012 Minority Scholars Award recipient by the American Medical Association Foundation. She is one of only 13 medical students so honored in the United States.
A difficult road
Informed by her own battles with cancer, Elmore decided to study community health as an undergraduate at Brown University, eventually earning a masters degree in public health from Columbia University, where she began working on community access and holistic care in Harlem, New York City, and abroad.
Initially, Elmore thought she had to choose between public health and medicine, but she soon met mentors who were working in both fields, and decided to go to medical school. Not long after she was accepted at Harvard Medical School, however, she received yet another cancer diagnosis. This time, she faced simultaneous primary cancers in her lungs and breasts.
After an unsettling encounter with a less-than-empathetic oncologist in New York City, Elmore moved to Boston, found an oncolosist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who orchestrated a successful treatment plan, and shortly thereafter, arrived at HMS, ready to start classes. It had been just a few weeks since she finished her last round of surgeries and chemotherapy.
Inspired by her recent experiences, and by what she was learning as a medical student, Elmore wrote “The Good Doctor” for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), an essay that explores the role of empathy in medical training and practice. In it, she described how her multiple battles with cancer helped shape her understanding of the relationship between doctors and patients, convincing her of the need for holistic, caring health care for all.
“Shekinah is a remarkable and courageous young woman. Her unique experiences and thoughtful insight will help her to become a wonderful doctor," said Katharine Treadway, HMS Gerald S. Foster Academy Associate Professor of Medicine and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, who encouraged Elmore to write about her experiences.
Delivering care in the developing world
Elmore has especially focused on the importance of physicians building empathetic, healing relationships with their patients in the developing world, where, she says, access to care may be hampered by additional economic, social and cultural factors.
At HMS, the 29 year-old Denver native has continued her work overseas, focusing on cancer care in Malawi. There is currently only one oncologist practicing in the whole nation, she said, and cancer care, when given, is often administered without pain medication.
“I’ve long been committed to working both here and in the developing world, and in East Africa in particular, to figure out how to make sure that people can have the access to care that we take for granted. I feel lucky to have had access to that care,” Elmore said. “It was lifesaving. I wouldn’t be here without it.”
Elmore’s research on palliative care in Neno, Malawi also earned second place in HMS’s Soma Weiss Student Research Day’s Charles Janeway Prize for International Research or Service. She said she is eager to continue working there in collaboration with Partners In Health, the government of Malawi, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Curing and caring
“I think it’s crucial to work past the false dichotomy of curing disease versus caring for patients, and to think about what we can do right now to help people while also working on strengthening systems of health care delivery,” Elmore said.
“Shekinah is gentle and empathetic. She’s got charisma, she’s got a lot of leadership ability,” said Alvin Poussaint, HMS faculty associate dean for student affairs and professor of psychiatry. “When people work with her, they want her to blossom even more.”
In recognizing Elmore’s work, the AMA noted her scholastic achievement and commitment to the elimination of health care disparities.
“It’s very humbling and a little overwhelming to receive this award,” Elmore said. “It’s a wonderful nod to the little bit that I've been able to do and to the promise that I’ll be able to continue in that direction.”
