Colin Powell School
Colin Powell School graduate and former Colin Powell Fellow Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen ‘11 was recently awarded the Townsend Harris Medal by the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association of the City College of New York. The award recognizes those who have demonstrated outstanding postgraduate achievement in their chosen field. Although she is young, Dr. Jay-Sheree has already made a mark in the medical field, pursuing her goal to focus on underserved communities.
Dr. Allen, a family medicine physician currently residing in Central Minnesota, has made it a goal to serve underserved populations and to reach millennials both locally and globally. She is the co-host of the podcast, “Race and Medicine”, as well as co-host and creator of the podcast, “Millennial Health”. While a student at CCNY, she founded Women of Excellence, Strength, & Tenacity (WEST), an organization focused on helping young women reach their career goals and highest potential. She has dedicated her time to speaking up for diversity in the medical field. She was named a 40 under 40 Leader in Health by the National Minority Quality Forum and was featured in the book Against All Odds: Celebrating Black Women in Medicine.
Where are you from and what is your background?
I was born and raised in Montego Bay on the island of Jamaica. I moved to NYC when I was ten with my father (my mother had moved here earlier). We all were ingrained with the idea of the immigrant dream, to pursue better opportunities and a better life, and my mom was no different. My mother knew that the career options back in Jamaica were limited, so she decided to take the leap of faith to go from Jamaica to New York. She immediately went to Medical School, and even attended WCC. I then ended up moving in with her in Mt. Vernon and eventually attending New Rochelle high school.
What was your concentration at the Colin Powell School? Can you tell us a little more about your passion and purpose behind originally pursuing this concentration?
I was a Psychology major at City College, which I absolutely loved. I knew I was definitely Pre-Med. I originally started at NYU, but we were new immigrants and didn’t have the funds for me to stay at NYU. So I transferred to CCNY, because I really needed my education to be affordable and I also wanted a better commute for myself. City definitely has the best reputation for Pre-Med students, and I’m proud to say that our psychology program is great as well.
From a young age, I knew I wanted to do medicine, but I also was interested in learning about human behavior. I was fascinated by the “why”, as to why people do the things they do, and even how their life events have changed the way they look at the world.
The Colin Powell Fellowship eventually came into the mix, because first of all, I’m Jamaican and so is Colin Powell, so every Jamaican family loves him. I was also fascinated by some of the lectures that were being held on campus, and the guests that they’d bring. I really wanted to be a part of that, and I was super interested in what the policies are that drive our country.
The Colin Powell Fellowship did a great job of exposing us to the underworld of policy and advocacy. I originally applied for Sophie Davis and got rejected, but in hindsight I am grateful for that, because had I gone to Sophie I wouldn’t have been able to explore other majors and Psych. I’m thankful, because through CCNY, I was able to go to Tanzania for a program where the cohort of students was about 4-5, and we were all in the sciences. We worked with the Ministry of Education in a girls empowerment science camp, and taught biology and chemistry courses to prepare these girls for careers as future scientists and to help debunk cultural gender stereotyped roles.
Tell us about your founding of the podcast, “Millennial Health”.
Millennials are now the largest living adult generation in the United States, as of last year. As a primary care physician, I started to recognize that I wasn’t seeing a lot of us in the clinic for primary care and preventive health care issues. We would only go in to the doctor because our job required a physical, or because something became so distressing that it was overwhelming our capacity to function. Millennials weren't going to the doctor for regular checkups, but then they’d have strokes and heart attacks, which don’t come about overnight. These issues started years ago, and it’s important to recognize that we as millennials are currently in those years. Our behaviors, our actions, our diets, our exercise all determine our future health outcomes. So I wanted to set us up for a stronger and healthier future. I do understand not wanting to come into the clinic, because going to the doctor can be a whole day affair with both wait time and paperwork. I created the podcast to reach a larger audience, and reach my patients where they are.
Could you tell us about being a co-host for the podcast, “Race and Medicine”?
“Race and Medicine” is something I created as part of a Hippo Education series of continuing medical education podcasts for nurses or practitioners as part of my work with a company called Primary Care Reviews and Perspectives. It is all about bringing information to practicing medics. Since the world erupted with the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, combined with the stress of the pandemic, everyone’s been on edge. I thought to myself, “How can I add my voice to this movement, and bring in my support?” And I really wanted to go to the protests, but I work in a small rural town. I recall being at a staff meeting one day, and someone mentioned the protestors quarantining. I felt very self-conscious going to the protest, especially with the virus and with how small our town is. I recognized that I hadn’t seen any programs on race and how it impacts medicine. We talk about cardiovascular disease, effects of COVID, and maternal health care, but I wanted to go deeper into it. I worked with Primary Care Reviews so that we could become more mindful and adopt better practices for our patients. It was my way of adding my voice to this global movement, and it’s been a joy thus far. And of course we get backlash, but it is important to keep going. Developing a series to educate fellow physicians on how medicine and racism intersect, and combating negative stereotypes, are all things I enjoy about this podcast.
What can you tell us about your current role as a National Health Service Corps Scholar currently practicing in a critical access hospital in Central Minnesota?
I signed up for this program when I was at Meharry Medical College which is a historically Black medical college. Growing up, I’ve always had a commitment to an urban underserved population. Being at CCNY, in Harlem, and then with my time at Jacobi Hospital, I was always exposed to medicine in underserved urban communities. Since I knew that this is what I wanted to do, it was definitely a change of plans once I went to residency at the Mayo Clinic.
My dean in medical school was the one who encouraged me to broaden my horizons, challenge myself to work in a different atmosphere, and learn about rural medicine. The communities I was exposed to were migrant families, factory workers, and farmers, and it was a totally different population than what I was exposed to previously. So I figured why not take this opportunity which is a three-year commitment in a different atmosphere? That’s how I ended up taking this job in Central Minnesota. I see a lot of Latinx communities (meat-packing workers, factory employees), people disproportionately affected by COVID, even multi-generational families in one home. I have even gained access to providing health services for poor, white, rural farmer families. What I’ve enjoyed about this experience is that it has exposed me to groups of people I never would have had the chance to interact with normally.
What advice would you give students and alumni who are also looking to pursue these sorts of opportunities and this sort of employment?
I would recommend as you’re going through college and graduate school to keep an open mind. Don’t box yourself in. Don’t come in and say, “I’m only interested in doing this, so I’m only going to focus on these lectures”, because you will be so surprised at how things change down the line. Similar to how I was so focused on the “urban population” but ended up in a more rural area, you never know where your plans can take you. Definitely take full advantage of what the Colin Powell Fellowships Office has to offer. Maintain an open mind and an open heart through the process of your education.