I had a nontraditional start to my college education. As a child, I was very sick and experienced a number of health issues, which ended up inspiring my decision to go into medicine. But during my senior year of high school, I was in a car accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury. I had to delay starting college and wasn’t able to go away to attend a university. Once I was healthy enough, I started at a community college and worked as a bartender and bottle waitress to afford school. I eventually transferred to Florida Gulf Coast University, where I studied biology with a double minor in biology and chemistry and a concentration in premedical sciences. After graduating, I worked as a high school biology teacher while saving up to apply to medical school.
I’m currently a fourth-year medical student at Rowan–Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. I’ll be applying to otolaryngology, also known as ENT or head and neck surgery, with the goal of going into head and neck surgical oncology. This specialty is especially meaningful to me, because less than 2% of practicing head and neck surgeons are Black. Given these disparities, I focus much of my research on illnesses that predominantly affect the Black community, as well as on ways to increase diversity in medicine to help improve outcomes for our people.
My ultimate goal is not only to become a head and neck surgeon, but also to be an advocate for the Black community and help increase the number of Black students entering medicine. We can’t change the problems within our community—especially those tied to healthcare—without representation.
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