Rayad Shams, fourth year UNC School of Medicine student and 2023-24 NC Schweitzer Fellow, pens op-ed in Charlotte Observer about the living and working conditions of migrant farmworkers in North Carolina.
An op-ed by Rayad Shams, fourth year UNC School of Medicine student and 2023-24 NC Schweitzer Fellow, has been published in the Charlotte Observer. In this article, Shams explains the significant health, living, and safety challenges facing the migrant farmworkers in rural North Carolina.
One summer morning, we loaded the van with medical supplies and headed to rural Caswell County, North Carolina. It was my first-day providing primary care to migrant farmworkers as a medical student and an Albert Schweitzer fellow.
When an enthusiastic community health worker asked me why I chose this project, I explained that I am an immigrant from Bangladesh who has faced many obstacles since arriving in the U.S., from questions about my identity to navigating college and medical school without money or guidance. Those challenges led to my passion for working with immigrant communities.
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