Sustained commitment

Two students who “demonstrate a sustained commitment to fostering the health of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community” received Excellence in Diversity Awards in 2024.

M3 Forrest Bohler and M4 Rima Stepanian were the recipients.

The awards were announced at the 2024 Honors Convocation by Tonya Bailey, Ph.D., associate dean, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Community Engagement.

“Recipients of this award exemplify outstanding efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion through their achievement and leadership, professionalism, service, scholarship, and going above and beyond what is expected of them,” said Bailey.

She noted that Bohler and Stepanian have served in local and national leadership positions as mentors and facilitators, volunteered extensively, and developed scholarship and research that helps OUWB build a healthy, diverse community.

Further, they have “demonstrated passionate care to our community and profound leadership efforts focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives while maintaining their very busy academic demands.”

Stepanian

Stepanian grew up in Macomb, Michigan. She earned an undergraduate degree in biomedical science from Oakland University. The experiences she had with OUWB students while still an undergraduate drove her desire to attend the medical school.

She is planning to specialize in ophthalmology.

The daughter of Armenian parents who came to the U.S. right before the fall of the Soviet Union, Stepanian said the DEI has always been a big part of her life.

For example, her best friend, Mar, who lived down the street was also born of immigrants, though their parents were Mexican. Stepanian said that helped her learn valuable lessons. 

“Acknowledging our differences is what makes us able to connect,” said Stepanian.  “And when you break it down, we all have a lot more in common than we realize.”

As an undergrad, Stepanian minored in sociology. She learned about social determinants of health and inequalities regarding access to health care while participating in mentoring programs for underserved groups — just one of many DEI-related initiatives that she continued while in medical school.

Others include being one of the organizers (as president of OUWB’s Ophthalmology Interest Group) of a vision screening event held at the Mexican Consulate in Madison Heights. Stepanian also co-ran an anatomy summer camp for Hispanic middle school age children and was involved in managing the community garden at the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic in Pontiac.

“These experiences keep me grounded,” said Stepanian. “It reminds me of the experience that my parents had when they first came to the U.S…the kind of barriers and obstacles that they had to overcome.”

She’s looking forward to furthering her commitment to DEI as a doctor.

“I want to get involved in community work as a practicing ophthalmologist…be more involved in connecting people to better networks of care,” said Stepanian.

Being honored with the Excellence in Diversity Award is “very humbling,” she said.

“As a medical student we’re always so busy and often we don’t take time to sit back and reflect on the things we do,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized in this way because I have a tendency to not give myself as much credit as I should…external recognition forces me to reflect on the fact that I’ve done some good stuff.” 

Bohler

Bohler is from Montana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental health from the University of Georgia. He says he was drawn to OUWB because of its emphasis on community and close relationship with Corewell Health, which is where OUWB students do their clinical training.

He’s made the most of his time at OUWB, too. Already, he’s had more than 30 papers published in medical journals.

Currently, he’s leaning towards specializing in general surgery and plans to practice in a rural setting in his home state.

Bohler said he views diversity, equity, and inclusion as imperative to being a doctor.

“You’re not going to just see one patient type…there’s going to be diversity amongst your patients,” he said. “If you’re only trying to treat one type of patient, you’re never going to live up to the full potential of what you could become as a physician.”

Bohler said the biggest DEI initiatives he’s been involved with at OUWB have been research projects related to the topic.

For example, one study was called “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Content on Ophthalmology Fellowship Webpages.” It was published in JAMA Ophthalmology. As the name suggests, the study examined webpages of various fellowships to identify those that featured the strongest DEI-related content and initiatives. Bohler has led similar studies for other specialties, too.

Bohler called such work “eye-opening.”

“It was eye-opening to see the lack of diversity materials once you get past one page that says, ‘We value diversity,’” said Bohler.

Beyond research, Bohler has been a regular volunteer at the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Health Fair co-hosted by OUWB at Chandler Park Academy in Harper Woods and has served on the OUWB DEI Council.

Bohler said it meant a lot to him to even being nominated for the Excellence in Diversity Award. He said being named a recipient of the award felt “validating.”

“It’s really nice to get recognized for your hard work…it’s super nice to feel seen and get recognized,” he said. “It made me realize that what I’m doing is the right thing and I should keep it up.”