Page 8 - Morehouse School of Medicine Scholarship - IMPACT

Scholarship Impact

Making Student Dreams A Reality

Kamron Robinson Medicine. Being from St. who come from under-
served communities, can
Louis, I was exposed to a
St. Louis, MO lot of life’s challenges and become a barrier to en-
2021 M.D. graduate disparities. As a child and tering medical school due
1st-year M.D. Resident teenager, I did not under- to not being able to afford
What first interested you in your stand how the same street the materials needed to do
program of medicine? From June in neighboring zip codes well on the exam.
2008 to October 2008, I spent count- had different resources and It is important to
less hours in the ICU of St. Louis how it affected the commu- address this shortage
Children’s Hospital looking over my nity. I knew that in order to because the health of the
combat these social determinants of Black community depends on it. Ac-
seven-year-old cousin, Karee, while
she battled Idiopathic Pulmonary health as a professional, I would need cording to different studies, patients
Hemosiderosis. to be at an institution that prides respond better to physicians who
Roaming those halls, I saw themselves on making physicians look like them. Better response leads
everything that could happen to a that not only heal patients, but doc- to better compliance by patients and
tor the community as well.
this leads to better health outcomes.
kid -- from gunshot wounds to first
degree burns on 90 percent of their
Please share how scholarship
What do you hope to accomplish
small frame. I grasped the fact that support helps you — academically, in your career after graduation/
near-death experiences can happen
to anyone. I watched how the physi- professionally, and personally? This residency? I hope to practice in an
scholarship helped me in many ways. underserved community where I
cians used their tools and knowledge
to repair the body to restore them to I became motivated and reinvigo- am also an active member of the
full health and mobility. rated because I knew that people community. I also hope to create and
Then something seemingly small believed in me, my dreams and my change policies that help margin-
changed in how I viewed the physi- goals so much that they were willing alized populations close the health,
to give me such an amazing gift. Pro- wealth, and educational gap. I believe
cian-patient relationship. Before the
physician would leave, the patient fessionally, this allows me to focus that my education at Morehouse
would curve the corner of their on my career without the stress of School of Medicine equipped me
mouth outwards, upward, exposing having a huge debt burden. I will be with the knowledge and skill to make
their teeth, expressing their joy. Even able to serve and offer free services to my hopes into reality.
those who cannot afford it.
when Karee passed from complica-
tions of her illness, I remembered the If you could say or do one thing
What is your take on the nation- to thank your scholarship donors
smile she always had for her physi- wide shortage of minority doctors?
cians. what would it be? Thank you so
That bond of affection and trust, I believe that there needs to be new much for this amazing gift. You have
despite the sometimes-insurmount- ways to gauge interest in the medical inspired generations of physicians
able challenge of her disease, sparked profession while also revamping how that will practice in communities that
something inside of me. Her courage we assess a candidate’s potential in need doctors and advocates. Your gift
and fearlessness and their determina- becoming a physician. will continue to be multiplied by the
tion to heal her are what inspired me The standardize test, to many many lives we will touch and help.
to want to become a physician.

Was the institution’s mission You have inspired generations of physicians that
important to you, when you were “ will practice in communities that need doctors
choosing a medical school? This insti- and advocates. Your gift will continue to be
tution’s mission was my main reason multiplied by the many lives we will touch and
of coming to Morehouse School of help.