Olubunmi Odejimi
Andrea Hayes Dixon, M.D., FACS, FAAP has become the first Black woman to be appointed as Dean of Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM).
The Howard University College of Medicine, located in Washington DC is an academic division of Howard University that awards the Doctor of Medicine, Ph.D., M.S., and M.PH. Before now, the university has had ten academic deans who were women, and this addition increases it to eleven.
This is not the first time Dr. Dixon is making history as she has a track record of them. One of such histories was in 2006, where she was the first Black woman to become a board-certified pediatric surgeon in the U.S. She was also the first woman to serve as chair of the Department of Surgery at Howard in 2021.
The new dean mentioned that she will be able to use her knowledge and experience at Howard College of Medicine because of all of the adverse circumstances that she has overcome. She added that the experience will be used to help other trainees to overcome some of the problems they might be facing.
Hayes Dixon expresses that she has many plans she would like to implement for HUCM, which include adding outstanding faculty to the college of medicine and providing a special environment where students can think creatively about medicine.
According to 2021 data by the Association of American Medical Colleges, a nonprofit organization focused on educating others on health, 22 percent of deans in permanent positions at U.S. medical schools are women. Meanwhile, 12 percent of deans in permanent positions at U.S. medical schools are in racial/ethnic groups that are underrepresented in medicine.
Dr. Andrea Hayes Dixon communicated that her appointment will be one of many in changing the revolution of administration in medicine, and will change how medical education is viewed.
