Meeting My Inspiration, Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee!

Me and my inspiration, Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee!

This medical school journey is just full of surprises! This past Friday, I had the amazing experience of not only meeting Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, but I was given the incredible opportunity to introduce her to my school! If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning, then you already know she has been a huge inspiration to me. I not only did a previous blog post on her almost two years ago for my “Minority Women in Medicine” section (SEE HERE), but I also quoted her in my personal statement for my medical school applications (which can be found HERE). So this should give you a pretty good idea of how much of an influence she has had on me. I also had the chance to attend a Champions of Healthcare gala Friday night where she was the keynote speaker, and one of my schoolmates took my daughter for the weekend so that I could attend the event and focus on studying for my final Cardio-Pulmonary-Renal exam yesterday (glad it’s over!), so it was a very happy weekend indeed!

For those of you who do not know who Dr. Ross-Lee is, she not only is an osteopathic physician, but she was the first African-American woman to become dean of a United States medical school. Her list of other accomplishments would be too much to mention in one blog post, but there are links included in the previous post I wrote about her if you would like to know more. She is also the sister of the legendary singer Diana Ross, and the aunt of actress Tracee Ellis Ross, for those of you who see some resemblance, lol.

Introducing her to my school was a special moment for me because I originally met Dr. Ross-Lee in 2008 as a pre-medical student attending the SNMA national conference in NYC. It was at this conference where I was first introduced to osteopathic medicine, and where she said something that has always stuck with me: "qualifications are a measure of opportunity and not of worth." This was the quote that I used in my personal statement, and it was also what gave me the push to continue to pursue medicine. As someone who applied to medical school as an extreme underdog with both a low undergraduate GPA AND low MCAT scores, it was easy at times to feel like I wasn’t worthy enough to get into medical school and pursue my dreams when I was going through the process. When she said this, it let me know that my dreams were worth something, and that I had to continue to fight for what I wanted. So for me, it's not only crazy, but a complete blessing that, 7 years later, I was able to walk up as a current medical student and current SNMA President of my school to introduce this extremely phenomenal woman.

It’s moments like this that let me know I am on the right path and that everything really does happen for a reason. I couldn’t understand the process when I was going through it (and I still have moments like this), but when everything starts to fall into place that’s when I realize how truly perfect God’s plan is.

One of my major goals is to one day be an inspiration and impact lives the way that she and so many individuals in healthcare and other fields have done for me, but I know I still have a long way to go. To my pre-medical readers, I hope this post will inspire you to not give up on the path toward reaching your goals despite any obstacles you may encounter. To my medical student readers, I hope you will look at this post to see the importance of inspiring and uplifting those around you, and to my healthcare readers, this post is my way of saying thank you for being an inspiration to us all!   

White Coat: Evening Edition

White Coats, Black (future) Doctors...I love my GA-PCOM SNMA Crew!

Had a great time attending the 2nd annual GA-PCOM Champions of Healthcare Gala

Happiness is when your friend takes your child for the weekend and brings her back with her hair fully done! #YouDaRealMVP