Ed Kornoelje, DO
Sports Medicine | University of Michigan Health-West
March 8 is International Women’s Day. Some of you may wonder what qualifications I might have to write about this day, but as a husband to Amy, father to Sadie, and physician to countless patients of all identities, I hope I have learned something along the way. None of us are perfect so at times my understanding of women is not ideal (Amy and Sadie can attest to this), but I’d like to think my attempts to support women’s causes (such as SHE RUNS) come from the purest of places—my heart.
Embrace Equity is the International Women’s Day 2023 theme. Embrace is a verb—an ACTION word if I remember correctly (for English and grammar experts I am oversimplifying I know). So “to willingly and enthusiastically accept, adopt, and espouse” equity calls for action—our action! In sports, the classroom, the workplace…we ALL need to have equity at the forefront of what we think and do.
My favorite embrace is the one at a finish line of a race. I have both given and received these embraces (and really, in a true embrace, both or all parties give and receive at the same time), and I can tell you the feeling of oneness and unity and support from a finish line embrace is hard to beat. Let’s keep that “finish line feeling” top of mind as we Embrace Equity in all its forms!
To find out more about U of M Health-West’s Sports Medicine physicians and DEI initiatives search those topics (and more) at www.uofmhealthwest.org . And as always…
Be active (with your embrace)!