Page 26 - MSM Bloomberg Scholarship

Bloomberg Scholarship Impact

Making Student Dreams A Reality

Have you had any
Bria Harris difficult challenges in your save more black lives. Hav-
ing representation in the
Nashville, TN medical/healthcare school medical field is beneficial to
1st-year M.D. student journey? Pursing a degree black patients.
in medicine has come
Why did you choose Morehouse Do you volunteer
School of Medicine? Before coming with a few challenges that with any organizations? I
include taking the MCAT
to MSM, most of my experiences multiple times and pursu- volunteer with Habitat for
have been in majority environments ing a Masters degree that Humanity, H.E.A.L clinic,
where I was the minority; yet, I have would allow me to improve and Berean food pantry.
always had a passion to serve and my MCAT score and help further All these organization help better
to help others in society. It is this my education. Because I was not able the Atlanta community from pro-
passion that has caused me to desire to matriculate directly into medical viding shelter, healthcare, and food
a medical school whose mission is school from undergrad, I have accu- to underserved individuals of the
focused in primary care and serving mulated more debt in student loans. community.
the underserved.
Because I desire to become a prima-
ry care physician, paying back all my What advice would you give to
Was the institution’s mission
important to you, when you were loans will be a process. someone who is thinking of applying
to MSM? I would tell them to trust
choosing a medical school? Yes, Please share how scholarship the application process and if they
MSM’s mission to improve the support helps you — academical- love serving, this is the place for
health and well-being of individuals ly, professionally, and personally? them!
and communities, increase the diver- This scholarship means a lot to me.
sity of the health professional and It allows me to know that there are What do you hope to accomplish
scientific workforce, and address pri- people that are willing to invest in in your career after graduation/res-
mary health care through programs my future and by doing so I can idency? I hope to make a difference
in education, research, and service focus more on my education without in the world of medicine and provide
with emphasis on people of color the burden of an accumulation of optimum level of care to everyone,
and the underserved urban and rural student loans. especially those underrepresented.
populations in Georgia, the nation,
and the world. What is your take on the na- If you could say or do one thing
It is something that I am pas- tionwide shortage of Black doctors? to thank the Bloomberg Philanthro-
sionate about. I am passionate about Among active physicians in the pies’ Greenwood Initiative, what
serving the underserved and excited United States, only 5% identify as would it be? I would like to thank the
to bridge the gap in heath equity.
Black or African American. This sta- Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Green-
tistic is unsettling. It is important to wood Initiative once more. I am
Can you tell me a story about truly grateful and appreciative.
something that has happened during address this shortage because it has
been shown that more black doctors
medical school that would illustrate
what the MSM experience is really
like? MSM treats everyone like fam-
ily and provides its students with the I hope to make a difference in the
necessary tools they need to become world of medicine and provide opti-
great physicians. Having faculty and “
classmates push me to be the best I mum level of care to everyone, espe-
can be is exhilarating. cially those underrepresented.