Aaron O. Wells, MD and the Medical Committee for Human Rights: reflections on a life of conscience.
The southern civil rights movement compelled Dr. Aaron Wells and other doctors to find ways to use their skills in support of that movement. Through the Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR), healthcare workers provided a medical presence for civil rights protesters in the south during the 1960s. Formed at a time when racial segregation in professional medical associations, hospitals, and medical education was common, the MCHR also highlighted race-based inequities in American medicine. Dr. Wells, a man who lives a life of activism, was the first national president of the MCHR. During the summer of 2002, nearly 40 years after the founding of MCHR, Wells was interviewed about his experiences. Those reminiscences are the basis of this article.
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D002961:Civil Rights / Q000266:history; D003242:Conscience; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006806:Human Rights / Q000266:history*; D011287:Prejudice; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States