I understand what it feels like to face challenges and experience pain firsthand; significant events in my own life led to the decision to first pursue a career in nursing, and now to become a physician. As a child, instability and pain were the norm. I grew up with parents afflicted with drug addiction; poverty and drugs formed a deep impact on my life. Poverty had trapped us - there is no luxury of dreams in poverty. The pain I experienced changed who I am, but I also know it is not unique to me. The pain I have experienced throughout my life allows me to operate from a place of empathy with other people. I am a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Detroit and understand the importance of mentorship. Children who come from ghettos and are minorities need to see someone who looks like them and “made it” without doing something illegal, being an athlete or rapper. For this reason, I plan to continue mentorship work at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS). Doctors of Tomorrow (DOT), the Black Medical Association (BMA) and the Student Diversity Council (SDC) are all organizations that aim to increase diversity in medicine at the UMMS. DOT pairs a medical student with a student from inner city Detroit to provide mentorship with hopes of diversifying medicine. The BMA aims to diversify medicine as well, but specifically within the Black population. In the BMA, I would assist in recruitment and retainment of Black college students who have goals of attending medical school. The goal of BMA in increasing Black doctors is also coupled with the goal of eliminating racial healthcare disparities through community engagement efforts, which aligns with the goals of the SDC. The SDC aims to diversify medicine, while also aiming to understand health disparities and equity in medicine. The goal of the SDC is achieved through service, education, and advocacy projects. These organizations would give me the skills and experiences necessary to effect change on a larger scale. The UMMS has the resources that would allow me to contribute to meaningful changes on a systemic level in healthcare. I plan on pursuing a dual degree, MD and Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree, while participating in White Coats for Political Action (WCPA). An MHSA would give me a thorough understanding of the healthcare system that is necessary to be a change agent within government policies. WCPA is a student-led organization that would allow me to actively utilize the education from my MHSA to promote political discussions around health equity. UMMS would give me additional knowledge and skills to enable me to become the provider that I have dreamed of becoming: one equipped to treat any and all patients in pain, while uplifting their communities. I am truly a sum of my patient experiences, at least 10,000 hours of patient care. This scholarship would allow me to focus on my goals without the stress, burden, and distraction of financial concerns.

As a future physician, I am nothing without the ability to serve my patients in a way that leads them to better health. Serving patients involves implementing interventions that can do the widespread good and has the patients’ best interest in mind. For this reason, I plan to pursue an emergency medicine specialty as a physician. As an RN, assisting doctors and stabilizing trauma cases in the intensive care unit was fulfilling. My experiences in urgent care as an NP have given me the pleasure of treating patients with a variety of illnesses, in a fast-paced setting. I am truly a sum of my experiences, at least 10,000 hours of patient care, which has fostered a keen interest in understanding the physiology that causes disease and alleviating it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I continued to work as an NP in an urgent care setting that reaffirms this belief daily. Every morning, I got out of bed to continue assisting patients, which provided me with a sense of purpose. Medical school at the would give me the additional knowledge and skills I yearn for and would enable me to become the provider that I have dreamed of becoming: one equipped to treat any patients in pain who come through the doors of the Emergency Department. This is my dream, but during the application process for medical school, my patient load increased to 100 or more patients per day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Losing other providers due to the stressors of the pandemic, put me in a bind and made the likeliness of being admitted to medical school bleaker. I was the only provider at an urgent care during my 13-hour shifts. It was challenging to study and stay on top of my patients' needs. I considered resigning, to make applying to medical school easier but decided against it. My patients meant a lot to me and I would not be able to live with abandoning them. The pandemic reinforced my focus on the patient and improving their health outcomes. I am proud to say that today, I have completed my MCAT with a competitive score, completed applications on time, was admitted to medical school at my top choice, the University of Michigan, and took care of my patients effectively. First, I maximized all of my downtime for studying and applications, this allowed me to continue taking care of patients. I also knew we had to accommodate for the increase in patients, we needed to open more space. My team also had to maximize what the medical assistants and healthcare providers could do without jeopardizing patient safety. For these reasons, we opened a new area for COVID-19 testing with a lab technician present. Also, we taught the medical assistants how to triage in other spaces, such as the patient rooms to keep the waiting room less clustered and socially distanced appropriately for COVID-19. As a provider, I had learned to delegate much more clearly and do whatever I could to reduce the burden on my assistive staff. I had taken over medical assistant responsibilities that were easy for me, such as drawing blood, triaging, and vital signs. This new workload required me to stay actively engaged with the healthcare team all day and know exactly what was going on in the clinic. I believe our teamwork, tenacity, and work ethic defined the mentality for the team and from the perspective of patient safety and health outcomes, we were successful.

While attaining my master’s in nursing at the University of Michigan (U of M), I worked in multiple specialties as a registered nurse (RN). In addition to my full-time employment, I was doing various clinicals for my nurse practitioner (NP) education and attending classes. I was fully immersed in patient care for most of my waking hours. During my first urgent care (UC) rotation, I had a preceptor by the name of Dr. Rahman (Dr. R). He asked me, “Have you ever considered going to medical school?”. The thought of medical school had never crossed my mind until that point. Watching Dr. R practice medicine was art in motion; I was inspired by his practice and breadth of knowledge. Patients told me that I needed to learn everything I could from Dr. R, because the world would need someone like him when he was gone. Dr. R was making the difference I wanted to make, and he and his patients inspired me to attend medical school. During the summer of 2018, I decided I needed to begin taking my prerequisites to prepare for medical school. I enrolled in 26 credit hours’ worth of courses, between U of M and a Community College, while working at the U of M hospital full time as an RN. A lot of uncertainty came along with that summer. I had to navigate all the courses, work in the hospital, manage life, and be successful. I find that challenging myself in this way has led to the most growth for me as a person. From this experience, I realized how important my goal to become an Emergency Medicine (EM) Physician was and how I am not afraid to stretch myself to live out this dream. This journey has led me to the pursuit of EM. As an RN, assisting doctors and stabilizing trauma cases in the intensive care unit was fulfilling. I loved assisting with those cases, and the complexities that came with them. My experiences in an urgent care (UC) as an NP have given me the pleasure of treating patients with a variety of illnesses, in a fast-paced setting. I am truly a sum of my experiences, which has fostered a keen interest in understanding the physiology that causes disease, and how to alleviate it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I continue to work as an NP in an UC setting that reaffirms this belief on a daily basis. Working with patients, day in and day out, has brought a sense of purpose to my life. Every morning, I get out of bed to live out this purpose. Medical school would give me the additional knowledge and skills I yearn for that would enable me to become the provider that I have dreamed of becoming: one equipped to treat any and all patients in pain who come through the doors of the Emergency Department. I would be thrilled to continue building upon the challenges, life lessons, and experiences of my past, and begin this new chapter of my career as a medical student, with the goal of becoming an EM physician.

Attentively reconstituting COVID-19 vaccines at the University of Michigan-Big House as a Registered Nurse at the vaccination clinic held there! Dutifully making sure my measurements of preservative free saline are accurate before initiating the mixing process with the concentrated mRNA based vaccine.

I understand what it feels like to face challenges and experience pain firsthand; significant events in my own life led to the decision to first pursue a career in nursing, and now to become a physician who advocates for all patients. The current pandemic has highlighted that African Americans are more likely to suffer from and die of COVID-19. The health disparities present in the African American population, long before the pandemic, predispose Black people to worse health outcomes when contracting the COVID-19 virus. As a future physician, I am nothing without the ability to serve my patients in a way that leads them to better health. Serving patients involves implementing interventions that has their best quality of life in mind. For this reason, I believe the most equitable solution is to change the rules and regulations of healthcare in America. The University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) has the resources that would allow me to contribute in meaningful ways towards systemic improvements in our healthcare system. I plan on pursuing a dual degree, MD and a Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree, while participating in White Coats for Political Action (WCPA). An MHSA would give me an understanding of the healthcare system that is necessary to be a change agent within healthcare policy. WCPA is a student-led organization that would allow me to actively utilize my MHSA to promote political discussions around health equity. The WCPA experience will be invaluable in the future when I plan on getting involved in government regulations in healthcare. Historically, the healthcare sector has not treated Black people fairly. This has led to a deep-rooted distrust in the healthcare system among African Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that this distrust among African Americans persists today. Avoiding and refusing to utilize healthcare has contributed to Black people dying at higher rates of COVID-19 when compared to White people. It will take aggressive policy measures to undo the negative perceptions formed by centuries of egregious acts committed by American institutions against Black people, and thus to transform the Black community’s perceptions of healthcare. I would propose incentivization for African Americans who regularly see their healthcare providers and meet certain objective health markers, paid time off for Black patients without repercussions, loan forgiveness for healthcare providers serving predominately African American communities with incentives for excellent health outcomes, and a new expansion of Medicare that guarantees coverage for African American healthcare costs wherever necessary, including operational costs. When faith in our healthcare system is restored to the African American community , I believe we will see a drop in health disparities like we are currently witnessing during this pandemic. I would argue that the savings would outweigh the government’s healthcare cost by reducing severe disease. My education at UMMS is crucial in order for me to learn how to effectively dissect policy and campaign for legislation., and I am confident the UMMS programs will help me reach my goals. The most sacred calling for me is treating patients., but I also have a desire and an obligation to uplift as many people as I can. Getting involved in healthcare policy development and implementation in my healthcare career would allow me to do just that.

During 2020 at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked as a Nurse Practitioner in an urgent care setting. At this time, I was also preparing to apply to medical school. My goal of achieving medical school became much more turbulent and challenging than I could have imagined. At my work place, we lost our other healthcare providers due to the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic. I too felt the pressure of the pandemic. Our patient load had risen to anywhere between 100-300 patients per day. A combination of factors led to this increase in patients from typically 40-60 patients per day. The main two reasons for this increase being multiple urgent cares closing, which limited access to healthcare. In addition, my workplace offered readily available COVID-19 testing via rapid testing and PCR. Being the only provider on site to manage a team of medical assistants and take care of patients safely took an unflappable demeanor, combined with a sense of conviction for superior patient care. I accepted the challenge. I knew if I abandoned my patients, that would defeat the purpose of going to medical school. Although going to medical school was still my goal. I believed I could do both, take care of my patients and get accepted into medical school. In order to manage my time, I would wake up at 5am everyday to study for my medical college admissions test. Then at 9am I would be at work until at least 10pm, if not later. When arriving home around 11pm or later, after seeing 200-300 patients, I would attempt to study before I went to bed. I sustained this effort, with 2 days off per week, which were dedicated to studying and preparing my medical school applications. I ended up being accepted to my number one choice for medical school: The University of Michigan medical school. In addition, my determination to take care of my patients never wavered. 2020 taught me what was most important to me and that was taking care of my patients. I learned I truly find purpose in life through taking care of patients. In medicine, nothing will ever supersede the patient for me and if I stay focused on what is important things will work out. That is what 2020 ultimately taught me.

Educating students on how to care for patients has been an amazing experience for me. You find out different students learn different ways and there is not one approach that works. Some students learn more when doing hands on things, and others would prefer to watch first. There is no right or wrong way of going about attaining the knowledge they need to become a proficient clinician, but as a teacher I am required to adapt my style to their needs. Watching the students cultivate their gifts gives me a lot of hope for the future patients that are in their hands. I can remember myself in their shoes, being eager to learn, but also anxious whether I will have the skills necessary to care for patients. Now as a preceptor, being able to empower the next generation of providers provides me a new challenge, yet satisfaction within the process. It is truly mind boggling, when you have a student the first day not able to come up with any treatment recommendations, but then by the last day can identify a list of differential diagnosis, testing and treatments. In addition, I always remind my students that the patient comes first. Everything else is extraneous. The prestige, money and glamour that comes with being a clinician is only secondary, and never supersedes the patient.

My commitment to healthcare has always been patient focused, whether I was a nursing assistant, registered nurse (RN), or nurse practitioner (NP). I find great satisfaction in managing acute illnesses. I have performed CPR, stitched up hemorrhaging wounds, consoled crying families, made the transition to death comfortable, and attempted to soften the blow of tragedy. I understand what it feels like to face challenges and experience pain firsthand; significant events in my own life led to the decision to first pursue a career in nursing, and now to become an emergency medicine (EM) physician. As a child, instability and pain were the norm. I grew up with five brothers, two sisters and parents afflicted with drug addiction; poverty and drugs formed a deep impact on my life. Poverty had trapped us- there is no luxury of dreams in poverty. The pain I experienced changed who I am, but I also know it is not unique to me. The pain I have experienced throughout my life allows me to genuinely operate from a place of empathy with patients. During high school, I began to play football due to newfound family stability. Through hard work, a football coach reached out to me and I committed to Siena Heights University (SHU). I did not have any particular career aspirations at that time but was required to choose a major. I chose Nursing because it was a stable and good career. At SHU, I failed my first anatomy and physiology (AP) exam and at the same time I was losing my love for football. The combination of these events motivated me to go to my guidance counselor, because I felt college was not for me. My guidance counselor spoke with me and said that I should give a tutor a try before leaving. My tutor, Katie, believed in me and saw potential and I responded, I achieved an A on the next AP exam. A professor by the name of Dr. Barbee believed I was a good fit for the McNair Program, which encourages minority students to attend graduate school by giving them an opportunity to conduct research. I joined the McNair Program, excited to conduct research and pursue graduate studies. I completed my undergraduate research in cultural competence related to the Hispanic culture in healthcare and was accepted into graduate school at the University of Michigan (U of M). While attaining my master’s degree in nursing at U of M, I worked in multiple specialties as an RN. In addition to my full-time employment, I was doing various clinicals for my NP education and attending classes. I was fully immersed in patient care. During my first urgent care (UC) rotation, I had a preceptor by the name of Dr. Rahman (Dr. R). He asked me, “Have you ever considered going to medical school?”. The thought of medical school had never crossed my mind until that point. Watching Dr. R practice medicine was art in motion and I was inspired by his practice and breadth of knowledge. Patients told me that I needed to learn everything I could from Dr. R, because the world would need someone like him when he was gone. Dr. R was making the difference I wanted to make, and he and his patients inspired me to attend medical school. The following summer, I began taking my prerequisites to prepare for medical school. I enrolled in 26 credit hours between U of M and a Community College, while still working full time as an RN. I had to navigate the courses and work in the hospital to be successful. I find that challenging myself in this way led to growth in my ability to focus and my time management. This experience confirmed my goal to become an EM Physician. I knew I was prepared to handle the rigor of medical school. This journey has led me to the pursuit of EM. As an RN, assisting doctors and stabilizing trauma cases in the ICU is fulfilling. My experiences in an UC as an NP have given me the pleasure of treating patients with a variety of illnesses, in a fast-paced setting. I am truly a sum of my experiences, at least 10,000 hours of patient care, which has fostered a keen interest in understanding the physiology that causes disease, and how to alleviate it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I continue to work as an NP in an UC setting that reaffirms this belief on a daily basis. Every morning, I get out of bed to continue assisting patients, which provides me with a sense of purpose. Medical school would give me the additional knowledge and skills I yearn for and would enable me to become the provider that I have dreamed of becoming: one equipped to treat any and all patients in pain who come through the doors of the Emergency Department. I would be thrilled to continue building upon the challenges, life lessons, and experiences of my past and to begin this new chapter of my career as a medical student, with the goal of becoming an EM physician.