Fellow Eager to Lead Change With Policy, Clinical Skills

As an undergraduate student at the City College of New York, Syldort was selected for a fellowship in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. That two-year program taught him about the policymaking process, professional development and research. He also spent a summer as a public health intern with the Icahn School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

“If it wasn’t for the experience I had at Colin Powell, and also the NIH, I don’t think I would have seen myself looking into leadership opportunities with the New York State Academy and the AAFP,” said Syldort, who graduated from the Zucker School of Medicine/Hofstra Northwell Glen Cove Family Medicine Residency in New York last summer. “My experience as a policy fellow at City College gave me an introduction to public policy and how it is developed. Understanding that process was really important. It showed me what kind of things I could change in health care. That pushed me to continue to look for those kinds of opportunities as a resident.”

Syldort held multiple resident leadership positions with the New York State AFP before becoming an advanced obstetrics fellow last fall at Swedish First Hill in Seattle. He also has served as a resident alternate delegate and delegate to the AAFP’s Congress of Delegates.

“I learned a lot from the responsibility of being a voice for residents,” he said. “In leadership, it’s not about the individual. It’s about how you can represent others and how you can use your platform.”

Syldort said he was motivated by seeing New York family physicians like AAFP Board chair Tochi Iroku-Malize, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., FAAFP, and Sarah Nosal, M.D., FAAFP, serve on the AAFP Board of Directors.

“It’s been inspirational having mentors who have experience leading on a national level,” he said. “That was really important in terms of knowing what kind of role I wanted to have and what things to apply for. The year that I ran for resident delegate, I honestly would not have applied if Tochi hadn’t encouraged me and helped me understand how I needed to present myself. There was a lot of mentorship that was really crucial for me to have the confidence to run for that position.”

Students and residents will elect a new slate of leaders to represent them in several roles during the National Congress of Family Medicine Residents and the National Congress of Student Members, which will be held Aug. 1-3 in Kansas City, Mo., during the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students.

Syldort said attending National Conference before his fourth year in medical school helped affirm his specialty choice.

“I wanted to tie my love for policy with health,” he said, “and I thought primary care was the best way to do that.”

Black people make up nearly 15% of the U.S. population, but black men represent just 3% of the physician workforce. Syldort, whose parents are Haitian immigrants who work in health care, said he was fortunate to have a Black male pediatrician growing up. “That was my first example, knowing that someone who looked like me could be a doctor, and I feel like that was very important for my development,” he said.

At City College, Syldort found mentors in the school’s Brothers, M.D. Initiative, which is focused on increasing matriculation, retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students, particularly men of color.

“We met biweekly, and we got to interview program alumni,” he said. “They were able to help plug us into extracurricular activities, support us and let us know that they had struggled, too, and there would be something on the other side for us.”

It actually was an internist who helped Syldort solidify his choice of a career in primary care. He rotated with Harvard Professor of Medicine Allan Goroll, M.D., through that school’s visiting clerkship program, which supports third- and fourth-year medical students from groups that are underrepresented in medicine.

“He’s written books on primary care,” Syldort said. “He had patients who have been with him for more than 20 years, and I saw the relationships he was able to build. But he also has been able to speak to people in Washington and people in policy. It seemed like the type of career that I could see for myself.”

Syldort will complete his fellowship in July and hopes to find a job where an underserved community can benefit from his advanced training.

“There is a big need because there are a lot of maternal care deserts and a lot of need for family docs,” he said. “My desire to become a doctor was tied to being able to help people in my community, so I want to work in a place where people have been underserved.”