Jonathan Ryan Batson

Jonathan Ryan Batson is the national co-chairperson of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Publications Committee and senior editor of the Journal of the Student National Medical Association.

Articles by Jonathan Ryan Batson

• We must heal our nation’s wounds — together

  Thursday, July 14, 2016

  ​When a child loses his parents, society labels him an orphan. When a woman loses her life partner, she is considered a widow. But what do you call a generation of people who have lost a mirror reflection of themselves as they continually see lives lost due to violence related to lethal weapons (guns, knives, fists, etc.). They are not called anything. They essentially have to hold a grip onto reality and pick up the fragile pieces that have been shattered on America's pavement and move forward.

• A culture of inclusiveness: Diversity matters in medical education

  Monday, October 06, 2014

  In medicine, many on various committees and boards still believe diversity is not an issue. They think that a few seats at the table — which make up less than 9 percent of "diverse candidates" in some cases — means that somehow we have all arrived and that the system is equal.

• An open letter to Chicago: The violence has to stop

  Thursday, July 24, 2014

  Dear Chicago, in the past few months I have been compelled to write to you about your homicide experience over the past year. I have wanted to assure you that you do not have to resort to violence for a solution that could be solvable with a face-to-face conversation.

• Does diversity matter in medical training?

  Friday, December 06, 2013

  ​Maybe I was wrong as to think that diversity matters in the sociocultural melting pot of the United States. Maybe we were all wrong. Am I now doomed to believe that diverse thought and experiences, which shape lives to create new innovations and remove inequalities from the status quo, does not really matter? Maybe not. Maybe the approach to diversity is wrong.