Page 24 - MSM Bloomberg Scholarship
P. 24
Bloomberg Scholarship Impact
Making Student Dreams A Reality
Darlington Pobee always came to mind. organizations? Yes, the
MSM H.E.A.L Clinic; the
Snellville, GA Please share how Georgia Lions free eye
3rd-year M.D. student scholarship support helps clinic; the Grace Village
What was your home life like you — academically, pro- free refugee clinic
when you were a child? What did fessionally, and person-
your family do for a living? I grew ally? Scholarship support What advice would
up with my maternal grandparents helps alleviate a financial you give to someone who
who were both unemployed. My burden I feared when I is thinking of applying
siblings and I shared a room that started medical school. It to MSM? The institution
simultaneously served as a living allows me to solely focus on study- is really a family, which is to say,
room, a dining room and storage ing and striving for excellence in nobody gets left behind. As a mis-
area. my academic career rather than sion-driven institution, it stays true
stressing about the finances needed to nurturing aspiring doctors who
What first interested you in to take care of some of my basic will address the healthcare dispari-
your program of study or medicine? needs. ties experienced by various popula-
When I witnessed the deprived tions in our country.
healthcare conditions of my home- What is your take on the na-
town, New Takoradi, Ghana, at the tionwide shortage of Black doctors? What do you hope to accom-
age of 11, I knew I wanted to make Currently, blacks make up only 5% plish in your career after gradua-
a change to the status quo. That of the physician workforce which tion/residency? I hope to provide
is when I knew medicine was the is a pitfall to equitable healthcare. much needed care to medically
right career for me. Consciously or unconsciously, underserved communities. I will
some patients trust physicians of participate and/or organize in free
Why did you choose Morehouse the same race and/or gender due mobile clinics and medical global
School of Medicine? Morehouse to personal experiences, history, mission trips.
School of Medicine has a strong assumptions or known facts.
record of producing primary care Regardless, if individuals are If you could say or do one thing
physicians who have a passion for not able to access healthcare due to thank the Bloomberg Philan-
serving the underserved. My goals to limited availability, their health thropies’ Greenwood Initiative,
as an aspiring physician aligned and overall quality of life stands to what would it be? Your support is
strongly with MSM’s mission. Also, suffer. Equally, it is important for significant, impactful, and chang-
MSM has a nurturing environ- the next generation to see people ing lives. Your support is crucial in
ment that I believed was necessary like themselves occupy roles they addressing the healthcare dispari-
for my development as a budding aspire to attain in the future, and to ties that face the African American
physician. see role models who will guide and community and other underserved
mentor them. populations in this country.
Has the financial burden of Do you volunteer with any
medical school been particularly
difficult for you? Financial burden Your support is significant, impactful, and
has always been a concern even be- changing lives. Your support is crucial in ad-
fore I started my medical training. “ dressing the healthcare disparities that face
As one of four children of a single the African American community and other
father, the fear for inadequate fi- underserved populations in this country.
nancial support during my training