I saw my first ever black doctor when I was fifteen. My parents had changed insurances which meant I had a whole new healthcare team. Before that, all the physicians I had seen were white and male. Seeing her in that position started to make me think of medicine as a possible career path. It took only one black doctor for me to consider medicine, I think that was my first experience in the importance of representation. As a future physician, I want to serve as a role model for little Black girls so they know that they too can be a doctor. My doctor inspired me to consider entering the medical field, but I needed some experience to know if this was what I truly wanted to do. Therefore, I began volunteering at my local hospital during the pandemic. I had to learn to work in a fast-paced environment, and the pandemic made it especially chaotic with the constantly-changing visitor policies and the influx of people coming into the hospital. If anything would dampen my passion for medicine this would be it, but shockingly I loved it. My favorite moment was seeing a team of healthcare workers urgently and efficiently transporting equipment to take care of a baby who had been born in the emergency room; I was in awe of them. I love helping people, and volunteering allows me to do that, while seeing how a hospital functions upfront. A year into volunteering, I began a research project with a research internship that focused on the effects of living in predominantly Black neighborhoods on residents' cardiovascular health. I chose this field because, on various social media accounts, I saw people speaking about the health disparities between African Americans and Caucasians. As a Black woman living in America, I wanted to understand the reason for these disparities especially since many of my relatives live with or have died from heart disease. Therefore, I began doing some research and saw how these disparities in predominantly Black neighborhoods lead to cardiovascular disease. In these neighborhoods, there is usually a lack of access to affordable healthcare and healthy food. Additionally, recreational areas are not nearby, and the neighborhoods are generally not walkable. These factors cause African Americans to have worse diets, fitness, and be less likely to seek healthcare, which leads to increased incidence rates of heart disease. After completing the project, I had a deeper understanding of how where African Americans reside causes them to be at a higher risk of heart disease compared to White Americans. It also made me wonder what it would be like if these neighborhoods had Black doctors who understood what the residents experienced and could give them a level of care they cannot receive from a white physician. Upon finishing my research, I knew what type of physician I will be. I will be one that will work to close the gap between Black and Caucasian cardiovascular health through working to better the lifestyle of African Americans. I will be one that works to create more free clinics as well as someone who will create accessible and affordable healthy food options for those living in environments that do not allow them to access these resources. I will be one who makes sure poverty is not a death sentence. The only way to do that is to lift minority voices into positions of power. Once, these positions become more diverse it will make it easier to enact change for minority communities and more difficult for people in power to ignore minority voices.

Over twenty years ago, my parents decided to immigrate to America. They came from Cameroon. They left a place they had known all their lives to give me a better life. It was always emphasized to me how visiting a physician was a privilege and how where they came from, the nearest hospitals were often miles away. On top of that, their only way to travel was to walk. Hospital costs were a burden on families- the fear of getting sick haunted them. As I heard these stories, I thought of similar stories in America, where despite our country having one of the most advanced medical systems, many people fear being sick because of the cost associated with it. Over 50% of bankruptcies in America are directly caused by medical debt. When I look at this data, I know I need to be in this fight to fix the healthcare system. The lives of these people go beyond the statistics. My parents wanted a better life for me, and I want a better life for those in need. It is not right that the healthcare system of my parents and the one here have so much in common. While improving accessibility and affordability in healthcare is very important to me, people should also feel safe at a doctor's office. Unfortunately, research has shown that a large number of people, especially members of marginalized communities, feel unsafe coming into the doctor's office. For instance, my cousin had been having abnormal side effects from her birth control like having menstrual pain and her period lasting over a month. When she finally got the courage to go to her gynecologist and talk about her symptoms, she found herself being dismissed and just told to come back in 6 months. Stories like these are a dime a dozen where medical professionals are not listening to patients or patients leaving the doctor’s office with no explanation for their ailments. As a black woman this issue hits close to home considering that people of color especially women tend to be treated worse at doctor’s offices compared to their white male counterparts. My desire to work in medicine comes from wanting to ensure that there are no barriers for a person to receive healthcare. I want to ensure any patient can go into a doctor’s office and be heard regardless of race, gender or any other factor.

I saw my first ever black doctor when I was fifteen. My parents had changed insurances which meant I had a whole new healthcare team. Before that, all the physicians I had seen were white and male. Seeing her in that position started to make me think of medicine as a possible career path. It took only one black doctor for me to consider medicine, I think that was my first experience in the importance of representation. As a future physician, I want to serve as a role model for little Black girls so they know that they too can be a doctor. My doctor inspired me to consider entering the medical field, but I needed some experience to know if this was what I truly wanted to do. Therefore, I began volunteering at my local hospital during the pandemic. I had to learn to work in a fast-paced environment, and the pandemic made it especially chaotic with the constantly-changing visitor policies and the influx of people coming into the hospital. If anything would dampen my passion for medicine this would be it, but shockingly I loved it. My favorite moment was seeing a team of healthcare workers urgently and efficiently transporting equipment to take care of a baby who had been born in the emergency room; I was in awe of them. I love helping people, and volunteering allows me to do that, while seeing how a hospital functions upfront. A year into volunteering, I began a research project with a research internship that focused on the effects of living in predominantly Black neighborhoods on residents' cardiovascular health. I chose this field because, on various social media accounts, I saw people speaking about the health disparities between African Americans and Caucasians. As a Black woman living in America, I wanted to understand the reason for these disparities especially since many of my relatives live with or have died from heart disease. Therefore, I began doing some research and saw how these disparities in predominantly Black neighborhoods lead to cardiovascular disease. In these neighborhoods, there is usually a lack of access to affordable healthcare and healthy food. Additionally, recreational areas are not nearby, and the neighborhoods are generally not walkable. These factors cause African Americans to have worse diets, fitness, and be less likely to seek healthcare, which leads to increased incidence rates of heart disease. After completing the project, I had a deeper understanding of how where African Americans reside causes them to be at a higher risk of heart disease compared to White Americans. It also made me wonder what it would be like if these neighborhoods had Black doctors who understood what the residents experienced and could give them a level of care they cannot receive from a white physician. Upon finishing my research, I knew what type of physician I will be. I will be one that will work to close the gap between Black and Caucasian cardiovascular health through working to better the lifestyle of African Americans. I will be one that works to create more free clinics as well as someone who will create accessible and affordable healthy food options for those living in environments that do not allow them to access these resources. I will be one who makes sure poverty is not a death sentence. The only way to do that is to lift minority voices into positions of power. Once, these positions become more diverse it will make it easier to enact change for minority communities and more difficult for people in power to ignore minority voices.

My obsession with Grey’s Anatomy began my freshman year. It is a TV show that dramatizes the lives of doctors and diversified my idea of what a doctor could be. It opened my eyes to the fact that I could be a doctor like Christina Yang or Margaret Pierce. If a TV show could do that, I wonder what I could do by, being a real person, working as a doctor to diversify healthcare. I want to be a role model for little Black girls so they know that they too can be a doctor. The diverse cast of Grey’s Anatomy inspired me to diversify the medical field, but I needed some experience to know if this was what I truly wanted to do. Therefore, I began volunteering at my local hospital during the pandemic. I had to learn to work in a fast-paced environment, and the pandemic made it especially chaotic with the constantly-changing visitor policies and the influx of people coming into the hospital. If anything would dampen my passion for medicine this would be it, but shockingly I loved it. My favorite moment was seeing a team of healthcare workers urgently and efficiently transporting equipment to take care of a baby who had been born in the emergency room; I was in awe of them. I love helping people, and volunteering allows me to do that, while seeing how a hospital functions upfront. A year into volunteering, I began a research project that focused on the effects of living in predominantly Black neighborhoods on residents' cardiovascular health. I chose this field because, on various social media accounts, I saw people speaking about the health disparities between African Americans and Caucasians. As a Black woman living in America, I wanted to understand the reason for these disparities especially since many of my relatives live with or have died from heart disease. Therefore, I began doing some research and saw how these disparities in predominately Black neighborhoods lead to cardiovascular disease. In these neighborhoods, there is usually a lack of access to affordable healthcare and healthy food. Additionally, recreational areas are not nearby, and the neighborhoods are generally not walkable. These factors cause African Americans to have worse diets, fitness, and be less likely to seek healthcare, which leads to increased incidence rates of heart disease. After completing the project, I had a deeper understanding of how where African Americans reside causes them to be at a higher risk of heart disease compared to White Americans. It also made me wonder what it would be like if these neighborhoods had Black doctors who understood what the residents experienced and could give them a level of care they cannot receive from a white physician. Upon finishing my research, I knew what type of physician I will be, the type one would see on a show like Grey’s Anatomy. I will be one that will work to close the gap between Black and Caucasian cardiovascular health through working to better the lifestyle of African Americans. I will be one that works to create more free clinics as well as someone who will create accessible and affordable healthy food options for those living in environments that do not allow them to access these resources. I will be one who makes sure poverty is not a death sentence. The only way to do that is to lift minority voices into positions of power. Once, these positions become more diverse it will make it easier to enact change for minority communities and more difficult for people in power to ignore minority voices.

My obsession with Grey’s Anatomy began my freshman year. It is a TV show that dramatizes the lives of doctors and diversified my idea of what a doctor could be. It opened my eyes to the fact that I could be a doctor like Christina Yang or Margaret Pierce. If a TV show could do that, I wonder what I could do by, being a real person, working as a doctor to diversify healthcare. I want to be a role model for little Black girls so they know that they too can be a doctor. The diverse cast of Grey’s Anatomy inspired me to diversify the medical field, but I needed some experience to know if this was what I truly wanted to do. Therefore, I began volunteering at my local hospital during the pandemic. I had to learn to work in a fast-paced environment, and the pandemic made it especially chaotic with the constantly-changing visitor policies and the influx of people coming into the hospital. If anything would dampen my passion for medicine this would be it, but shockingly I loved it. My favorite moment was seeing a team of healthcare workers urgently and efficiently transporting equipment to take care of a baby who had been born in the emergency room; I was in awe of them. I love helping people, and volunteering allows me to do that, while seeing how a hospital functions upfront. A year into volunteering, I began a research project that focused on the effects of living in predominantly Black neighborhoods on residents' cardiovascular health. I chose this field because, on various social media accounts, I saw people speaking about the health disparities between African Americans and Caucasians. As a Black woman living in America, I wanted to understand the reason for these disparities especially since many of my relatives live with or have died from heart disease. Therefore, I began doing some research and saw how these disparities in predominately Black neighborhoods lead to cardiovascular disease. In these neighborhoods, there is usually a lack of access to affordable healthcare and healthy food. Additionally, recreational areas are not nearby, and the neighborhoods are generally not walkable. These factors cause African Americans to have worse diets, fitness, and be less likely to seek healthcare, which leads to increased incidence rates of heart disease. After completing the project, I had a deeper understanding of how where African Americans reside causes them to be at a higher risk of heart disease compared to White Americans. It also made me wonder what it would be like if these neighborhoods had Black doctors who understood what the residents experienced and could give them a level of care they cannot receive from a white physician. Upon finishing my research, I knew what type of physician I will be, the type one would see on a show like Grey’s Anatomy. I will be one that will work to close the gap between Black and Caucasian cardiovascular health through working to better the lifestyle of African Americans. I will be one that works to create more free clinics as well as someone who will create accessible and affordable healthy food options for those living in environments that do not allow them to access these resources. I will be one who makes sure poverty is not a death sentence. The only way to do that is to lift minority voices into positions of power. Once, these positions become more diverse it will make it easier to enact change for minority communities and more difficult for people in power to ignore minority voices.

Over twenty years ago, my parents decided to immigrate to America. They came from Cameroon. They left a place they had known all their lives to give me a better life. It was always emphasized to me how visiting a physician was a privilege and how where they came from, the nearest hospitals were often miles away. On top of that, their only way to travel was to walk. Hospital costs were a burden on families- the fear of getting sick haunted them. As I heard these stories, I thought of similar stories in America, where despite our country having one of the most advanced medical systems, many people fear being sick because of the cost associated with it. Over 50% of bankruptcies in America are directly caused by medical debt. When I look at this data, I know I need to be in this fight to fix the healthcare system. The lives of these people go beyond the statistics. My parents wanted a better life for me, and I want a better life for those in need. It is not right that the healthcare system of my parents and the one here have so much in common. While improving accessibility and affordability in healthcare is very important to me, people should also feel safe at a doctor's office. Unfortunately, research has shown that a large number of people, especially members of marginalized communities, feel unsafe coming into the doctor's office. For instance, my cousin had been having abnormal side effects from her birth control like having menstrual pain and her period lasting over a month. When she finally got the courage to go to her gynecologist and talk about her symptoms, she found herself being dismissed and just told to come back in 6 months. Stories like these are a dime a dozen where medical professionals are not listening to patients or patients leaving the doctor’s office with no explanation for their ailments. As a black woman this issue hits close to home considering that people of color especially women tend to be treated worse at doctor’s offices compared to their white male counterparts. My desire to work in medicine comes from wanting to ensure that there are no barriers for a person to receive healthcare. I want to ensure any patient can go into a doctor’s office and be heard regardless of race, gender or any other factor.