I do my very best not to say politically rousing statements on here because I recognize how impactful it could be on my life and future. I will make a few points, however.

As a professional student, it is easy for my peers/colleagues to think of me as the kind of 1/x Black/AA person who would never find themselves in a compromising position with law enforcement. Additionally, there’s falsely ascribed increased worth on my life. Further, some people even go as far as to think we may share very similar viewpoints on current events.

It is 2/x

God’s timing, a thread:
When I started medical school I was disappointed in my non-traditional route. Although “Black don’t crack” & my peers never believe how old I am, 😂, I felt “behind”. I now recognize everything happens for a reason, there is a purpose & plan. 1/ Truly, I stumbled into Urology. Our Cardiothoracic attendings were thought to be on away at a conference and it would have been too much for students to remain on the service with fewer attendings. They asked what OTHER surgical subspecialty I would like to see and I 2/

I have a mentee who is a MS2 that graduated from an HBCU as well. I have NO idea when I told her I was an HBCU alumnae. Nevertheless, she said when she found out it gave her comfort & made her feel like she could succeed.

I got her a medical desk dictionary and wrote a little note on the front page. I hope she likes it 😭😭.

I’ve never been a believer in “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”. I believe everyone’s success
is dependent on someone else’s.

I will do EVERYTHING in my power to help make someone’s dream a reality.

Mentors matter.

So Chadwick Boseman passed from colon cancer at the age of 43.

I think this is an opportunity for Black healthcare providers to discuss the importance of knowing your family history of disease.

If he was 39 when he was diagnosed that means if he had children, they need to be screened beginning at age 29 and any siblings he may have should also be screened if they have not been.

The general distrust Black people have for the institutions in this country is warranted. How as a Black healthcare provider do I plan to change this? I’m not sure yet, but

I grew up in a single parent home with my mother.

We never owned a home when I was a kid. Location permitting, I’ll be a homeowner next year.

That is W I L D. A considerable percentage of my classmates are the children physicians and most are from upper middle-class/well-off/wealthy families. It’s hard for me to articulate what this means to some of them.

What it means to me is that, if we want, my family can host holidays at

At the beginning of MS3 year I felt, very strongly, I needed to actively be doing things to learn. I underestimated the value of quiet, observation. As I’ve transitioned from a MS3 to a MS4, I now appreciate it as one of my greatest learning opportunities. Today, I was 1/ reminded of why. For the first time I witnessed a frustrated pt allege a physician entered the field solely for money. We arrived to this point with the use of the word, “supposedly”. The pt felt dismissed, not cared for and that they were being viewed as incompetent in their 2/

Unpopular opinion: I’ve, largely, enjoyed medical school. There have been experiences that have been CONSIDERABLY less than ideal, but it’s my belief they happened to press me to become my best self.

I maintain many people enter medical school medical to be doctors

https://twitter.com/dermangelo/status/1294659172555005953

without appreciating there’s an entire process to *BECOME* a doctor.

Also, my mentor Dr. Dray and I discuss A LOT varying levels of resilience. Medical school has not been the hardest thing I’ve ever encountered in my life. I am unfortunately fortunate for that. For people

Despite the SAU’s sanctioning away rotations for applicants without home programs...I haven’t had any luck finding a program to accept me. I want to say I am so appreciative of everyone who has reached out to me in an effort to help me secure an away rotation.

You all could have done anything else with your time than avail yourselves to me.

I was so down earlier when I got my fourth, “No, I’m sorry we

A classmate just showed me this. Annually on my Instagram I shower my followers with Black history facts during the month of February. One year, I was asked to discuss how AAs have to work TWICE as hard to get 1/2 (s/o to @shondarhimes for putting this concept in Scandal b/c I

https://twitter.com/MaxJordan_N/status/1261405193213632513

def’ly used the clip as an intro). I did & cited these some of these SAME articles. This is a PRINCIPAL lesson in diaspora households. It would be amazing if the awards we’re given are *truly* a meritocracy, but we know that isn’t true, largely. There are some ppl who ask

Yesterday, my amazing mentor Dr. E. Dray, asked how I was doing. We talked about the uncertainties of away rotations, how residency interviews may be completed remotely. Though we are both apprehensive, I’m still grateful. I worked so hard to get here. 1/#MedStudentTwitter It is so easy to get wrapped up in this period of time, but it’s important to realize...it’s a period of time. No med student is going to be at their current level perpetually. Moreover, we are stalled because there’s concern for our SAFETY. I’ve often found my peers lack

Man, all of #MedSchool is really about “trusting the process”. At the beginning of 3rd year, my confidence in my ability to EVER get to a point where I could talk to a patient about their labs in lay terms seemed SOOO distant.

I have an old college classmate who’s in her 3rd trimester and she had concerns. We hopped on FaceTime, talked about what her values meant and possible next steps.

The step I said was most likely to happen did, but this is less about me being right. It’s about her trusting me and me trusting the skills I’ve been building.

People at the school are finding out I’ve decided to pursue Urology as my specialty and are asking, #WhyUrology? When ppl think of all the things that can give them problems in their bodies, they R A R E L Y ever mention their urinary tracts. Nevertheless, I was listening to a podcast and the urologist said, “...but when it’s a problem, it’s a p r o b l e m” #WhyUrology

Guys the system in place for paying for higher education and moreover professional education is biased against people of low SES.

I was very fortunate to have earned admission to medical school, but what does that mean for my family when I have worked since 15y/o and have helped out with bills?

It means that now my family’s finances are tighter than they were before and EVERYONE is more stressed.

It is true that, EVENTUALLY, there will be upward mobility, but right now we are all struggling. My younger sister called me for

This is going to be a thread about #poverty #upwardmobility #authenticity and #childhomelessness.

But first I have to get out of bed and find a coffee shop 😊😂 update: I won't make it to a coffee shop because the car I was given 8m ago has given up the ghost and won't start.

So, coming at you live from my living room where there's no sweet coffee aroma. lol.

Soror Dr. Alexa Canady, was the first AA female neurosurgery resident and subsequent neurosurgeon, hailing from Lansing, MI. She would later return to MI’s Children’s Hospital and serve as Chief of Neurosurgery.

Let’s talk aesthetics in a historically predominantly white space lol.

It doesn’t matter the industry. There are studies that show outward stereotypical “blackness” and “otherness” alike are discriminated against.

On my 27th birthday I got a nose ring because....I wanted one 😂😂....SURPRISE!

I got locs in 2014....because I’d wanted them since 2010...

I started my half sleeve when I walked out the testing center after taking step 1.

Friday afternoon, I met with our MFM fellow 😍 a sister with a nose ring stud. She asked if anyone said anything

Life update, did hand over hand delivery of a fetus yesterday. Wow. We’re going to try to actually deliver one....today.....my hands only lol

I am going to share an evaluation, not to be boastful, but to highlight a flaw in our UME structure... “Keiko did a wonderful job during her nights rotation on internal medicine... she was quick to adapt to tune ebbs and flows of IM...Keiko took care of a pleasant nonagenarian who presented w/ chest pain...Keiko stayed by her side, held her hand and made her laugh. The patient...

What’s one of the hardest things about being an AA medical student?

Coming to terms with how the nuances of black culture are lost on people who may otherwise believe they are active participants in my culture.

1/ I had an AA patient who said the devil wasn’t going to use a kidney stone to take them out.

Growing up in AA churches my whole life where they would talk about sickness as a tool of the enemy, I knew exactly what they meant. My attending asked their partner, “Have they been
2/

Let’s briefly talk about pregnancy 🌚 Studies report 50% of all pregnancies are......UNPLANNED.

“Ok, and?”

Unplanned pregnancies can be dangerous for both mom and fetus. As you can imagine, the nutrient requirements for a pregnant woman are different than a woman who is not pregnant. In class, we were taught, by

Let’s talk about the flu season and the vaccine! “I got the flu in February. What do you mean flu season?”

The center for disease control (CDC) has found that we are most likely to get Influenza A or B (yes, there’s a C) during the fall and winter months; starting in October and ending in February.