MUA/P Interest Group Session: Resident Recruitment and Retention for Underserved GME: Resident Perspectives

Born in Nigeria and a native Georgian, Olumuyiwa Fatade earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Columbus State University. He completed his medical school education at St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies, followed by a master’s degree in public health with a focus on preventive medicine. He is currently a psychiatry resident physician in his final year of residency at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Ocean University Medical Center (HMH-OUMC). He is passionate about the intersection of education, health care policy, and mental health access, particularly as it impacts disparities in geriatric and underserved populations. His research interests reflect this passion. During his medical education, he served as a tutor and teacher in St. George’s University’s Department of Educational Services. His commitment to community engagement has been steadfast, ranging from organizing health fairs for the local Grenadian population and rural Georgia clinics to providing crisis intervention and resiliency training for New Jersey police department first responders. His dedication to advocacy and community involvement has continued throughout his residency. He currently serves on the Hackensack Meridian Health Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. He is also an Honor Scholar alumnus of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP). Outside of medicine, he enjoys cooking, playing soccer, and exploring jazz music as an aficionado. In addition to mentoring medical students and residents, he holds leadership positions on several HMH-OUMC committees focused on patient and family education, bioethics, and graduate medical education.

Robin Raquel Rodriguez is a family medicine resident in her final year of residency at Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC). She completed her medical education at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Urbana University in Ohio. Following her residency, she plans to serve an underserved community as a family medicine/obstetrics (FM/OB) physician. Dr. Rodriguez is deeply committed to increasing health equity and addressing the needs of underserved populations. Growing up in a rural community of just 318 people and being the first in her family to graduate from college, she experienced firsthand the disparities faced by underserved communities. As a resident, she has been Chair of her residency program’s community medicine division, secured grants to support rural elementary school districts, and represented her program at conferences such as Rural Health Day, the Rural Health Redesign Center Fall Summit, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) Advocacy Day. She has served on the PAFP Board of Representatives and is in her second term as one of two resident representatives for the Rural Medical Training Collaborative. Robin has authored multiple journal articles and is currently leading a quality improvement project to enhance postpartum depression detection in her hospital. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, outdoor adventures, and all things Disney. She looks forward to collaborating with colleagues on the MUA/P committee.