Chidi Achebe Receives The Martin Luther King Social Justice Award From Dartmouth College

Ivy-League University honors Dr. Achebe For His Ongoing Commitment To The Quest Of Bridging Health Care Disparities That Exist Amongst America’s Most Vulnerable And Underserved Populations.

On Friday, January 27, 2012, Harvard Street Health Center President and CEO Chidi Achebe MD, MPH, MBA will be awarded Dartmouth College’s 2012 Martin Luther King Social Justice Award.  

Dr. Chidi Achebe (DM Magazine)

Dr. Chidi Achebe will receive the Ongoing Commitment category of the Martin Luther King Social Justice Award by Dartmouth College in recognition of his ongoing commitment to the quest of bridging health care disparities that exist amongst America’s most vulnerable and underserved populations.

“I am absolutely delighted and deeply honored to have been selected to receive such a prestigious award.  I feel incredibly fortunate to have an opportunity to serve such wonderful patients on a daily basis and to be part of the family of servants who want to improve health care for all” Dr. Achebe said.

Dr. Achebe completed undergraduate studies in natural sciences, history and philosophy at Bard College; received an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, his MD at Dartmouth Medical School and an MBA degree at Yale University's School of Management.

He also completed his residency in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX.

For a brief period, Dr. Chidi Achebe served as Medical Director of the Whittier Street Health Center; he then served as Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Harvard Street Health Center before his appointment as the President and CEO of the Harvard Street Health Center.

After several years of work at various Boston health centers, Dr. Achebe now sees "the struggle against inequalities in health and health care for all vulnerable, underserved Americans, as the next stage of the Civil Rights movement;" and has dedicated his life's work to helping to solve the conundrum of health care inequity in America's health care system.

Dr. Achebe Attending To A Patient

(DM Magazine)

Dr. Achebe makes church calls, and speaks at youth summits, conventions, conferences, schools, barber shops - focal gathering areas where he can reach underserved patients - reminding the community of the value of health, preventive care, and the quality of service readily available at Harvard Street.

While expanding his unique implementation of “medicine without borders,” Achebe works as a passionate advocate for the global community through his writings that call attention to worldwide health concerns such as the HIV/AIDs pandemic and Prostate Cancer.

His efforts have earned him a featured TV appearance on Basic Black; profile in the Boston Globe and AOL Black Voices, an interview on WUMB-FM's Commonwealth Journal (interviewed by the legendary Barbara Neely); and feature length articles in several international periodicals, journals, and newspapers.

Through his years of work, Dr. Achebe has become a leader in the battle for healthcare equality and serves on several boards and committees where he continues his passion to be at the vanguard of the quest to bridge disparities that exist in the health care system.