Dr. Cedric M. Bright, physician and patient advocate, is the Associate Dean for Admissions, Professor of Internal Medicine, and the interim Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at the Brody School of Medicine in Greenville NC. Previously, he served as the Associated Dean of Inclusive Excellence, the Director of the Office Special Programs and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medical Education at the UNC School of Medicine. He served as the 112th President of the National Medical Association from 2011 to 2012 during which time he advocated in the White House for health equity, increased diversity in clinical trials, and increasing the pipeline of students of color into health careers. He was previously an Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine and Community and Family Medicine at Duke University and a staff physician at the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He started his career as a Clinical instructor at Brown University as the site director of the Notre Dame Ambulatory Center. Dr. Bright has served as a mentor for premedical and medical students and was featured in a U tube video developed by Diverse Medicine Inc. entitled “Black Male in a White Coat”. He was featured in the AAMC publication Altering the Course; Black Males in Medicine. He has spoken at the Congressional Black Caucus Health brain trust before on topics related to Veterans health, disparities within the VA system, and how to strengthen the pipeline of black males. In 2019, Dr. Bright was inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece, the highest honor bestowed to UNC Alumni. He was elected for AOA at UNC as an alumnus and delivered the 2020 commencement keynote for the 2020 class at UNC SOM. He serves on the roundtable of Black Men and Women in STEM for National Academy of Science, Engineering and Math and has presented numerous grand rounds on the impact of Covid 19 on the black community.

 

Dr. Bright is a fellow of the American College of Physicians since 2012 and serves as a board member for the National Medical Fellowships Inc. and on the W. Montague Cobb/ NMA Health Institute. He served as the chair for the Boys and Girls Club of Durham and Orange Counties and the Lincoln Community Health Center. He is a member of Sigma Pi Phi and the Omega Psi Phi fraternities.

 

He is a dedicated clinician, community servant leader, husband, and father, as well as a mentor to many.