Q&A: Barrier-breaking vascular surgeon on the importance of diversity in the field

Diversity in the workplace remains a challenge for many industries around the nation. But when physicians are treating patients with vein, artery and heart conditions, a diverse staff can play an important role when connecting with and giving patients of all backgrounds the best care possible.

As the country nears the end of another Black History Month, Cardiovascular Business got a scope of what racial diversity in vascular surgery is like from a black female pioneer in the field.

Donna Mendes, MD, is a vascular surgeon at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West, both in New York. Additionally, she runs her own practice in the city, Mendes Vein Care, where she treats peripheral arterial disease and deep vein thrombosis.

Issues of diversity in the field have always been of importance to Mendes, who received her medical degree from Columbia University, but her work and legacy culminated in 2015 when she was interviewed and included in the HistoryMakers collection in the Library of Congress. Though it’s an honor, Mendes said it’s also a responsibility to inspire and educate other young minorities who may want to pursue a career in medicine.

Throughout her career, she has worked to engage minority youths and ensure institutions she was a part of prioritized diversity. She has chaired the diversity committee for the Society for Vascular Surgery and currently encourages diversity initiatives at Mount Sinai institutions.

Mendes talked with Cardiovascular Business about diversity at Mount Sinai, how the industry has become more diverse over the years and why all providers should make it a priority.

Cardiovascular Business: What is diversity like at Mount Sinai?

Donna Mendes: Mount Sinai has always been a diverse hospital campus and [it's] diverse as far as ethnicity and gender. They have always been known for ensuring they bring in minority high school students for summer courses to see what it’s like to be in medical school and to be a doctor. Mount Sinai has been doing this for quite a long time, and I applaud that.

How does it feel to be the first black female vascular surgeon officially recognized by the Library of Congress?

When you look at the Library of Congress, you see Rosa Parks and all these other “firsts” are there. It is an honor, but it’s also a responsibility because what I need to do is ensure that the young kids out there, who are not sure what they want to do and where they’re going, get a little help. Sometimes I’ve had students come to my office and watch procedures. I’ve had students come to the operating room and watch me do a case. I had one student tell me he couldn’t stay for it because he got a little ill. But it is an honor, I must admit.

Why should all providers make diversity a priority?

Because we are in a nation of so many different people. It’s important to be able to work with white, black, Hispanic and other races of people. It’s important that they continue to expand on diversity so that everybody feels like they can be a part of something, particularly if they’re thinking about medical school.

How would you say a diverse staff helps treat patients of different backgrounds, particularly in vascular surgery?

Let’s take my practice, for example. A lot of Hispanic women come to my practice, and though I’m getting better, I’m not yet fluent in Spanish. But having my medical assistant here, who speaks Spanish fluently, ensures that those patients who seek me out are assimilated well into the practice. Additionally, I have someone that is completely Caucasian and she helps me. Having a diverse staff ensures that patients who want to seek me out are comfortable when they get here.

Overall, is the vascular surgery specialty diverse enough or does it still have work to do?

I want to say yes to that because we’ve made some progress; we try to be diverse. When I first started out, it was primarily white men—and whenever I walked into a room, I always felt as if they thought they were looking at the vascular tech. When I kept coming back year after year, I guess they saw that I wasn’t.

What are ways to attract more minorities to the field?

By giving talks, by being out there and being seen. I would like to have more of a local presence. It would be so nice for students to see that you can be articulate and have fun, and have this profession explained in a way that makes it seem like, “OK, I can I do that.”