Page 32 - MSM Bloomberg Scholarship
P. 32
Bloomberg Scholarship Impact
Making Student Dreams A Reality
Has the financial bur-
Darius Stephens den of medical school been application is not looked
at. Many black students
Covington, GA particularly difficult for don’t have access to the
3rd-year M.D. student you? I don’t believe that I same resources and con-
Why did you choose More- have had the opportunity nections that their peers
house School of Medicine? I chose to fully realize the amount have and fall short in these
MSM because it has a long history of debt that I am in. Right 2 categories. I believe the
of producing competent and well now, my debt is just a MCAT should test compe-
respected black physicians. I knew number on a computer tency to complete medical
that this process would not be easy, screen. This number has school and not score/strat-
and I wanted to attend an institu- however pushed me into thinking ify applicants.
tion that I knew would support me. about specializing in something Unless this is changed we will
Having professors and attendees outside of primary care in order continue to have a shortage of black
that look like me and can under- to pay it off. Thankfully with your doctors. Scoring in the 99% per-
stand my background and who I support, I am no longer as con- centile on a test does not mean that
am as a person has been invaluable. cerned about it. a person will be an overall better
physician in an actual hospital.
What first interested you in Please share how scholarship There are so many intangible
your program of study or medicine? support helps you — academically, things that is a part of being a phy-
Was there a “light bulb or “a-ha” professionally, and personally? This sician that can’t be figured out via a
moment? I have wanted to be a scholarship has made the finan- test. Research clearly shows when
doctor since I was a child. There cial burden of medical school less a patient has a physician that looks
was never a “light bulb moment. daunting. I now know that I will like them, they have better health
The fact that there was a profession not be as deep in debt and will be outcomes.
where you get to cure the sick and able to comfortably live without
be a role model to others has always that stressor as a physician and If you could say or do one thing
been attractive to me. I didn’t have father when I graduate and have a to thank the Bloomberg Philanthro-
a black male doctor until I was 23 family of my own. pies’ Greenwood Initiative, what
years old and that has been one of would it be? Thanks to the gener-
my motivators throughout medical What is your take on the na- osity of Bloomberg Philanthropies
school. tionwide shortage of Black doctors? as a great deal of the burden of my
Many medical schools say they look medical education expenses will be
Was the institution’s mission at an applicant as a whole, but this alleviated. Your contribution will
important to you, when you were is not true for most. If a student lead to more black providers and
choosing a medical school? Yes, the does not have a certain GPA or subsequently healthier black and
institution was created for students MCAT score, a lot of the time their brown lives in America.
like me. The institution’s mission
statement is to improve the diver-
sity of the medical field. I do not Scoring in the 99% percentile on a (MCAT) test
have anybody in my family that is does not mean that a person will be an overall
in the medical field and will be the “ better physician ... Research clearly shows when a
first physician in my family. I hope patient has a physician that looks like them, they
to practice some day in Atlanta, have better health outcomes.
GA.
