About the author
A diplomate of the American Academy of Family Physicians with over twenty-five years of ambulatory care experience, I grew up in a family of health care providers. Pursuing excellence was pursuing a career in medicine. In 1960 my dad was the first black ob-gyn resident at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, and my mom was a registered nurse. My siblings and I were blessed to grow up in a very loving family where academics were emphasized. Sandwiched between my older sister, Sabrina, and younger brother, Mark, I made sure my parents knew I always sought to shine in their eyes.
As a good-natured child growing up, I spent endless summer days and nights over my grandmother's house with my cousins—long, hot summers in Miami, playing pranks on one another; playing football or kickball in the street; playing hide-and-seek from dawn till dusk; drinking Slurpees; going to the beach (before there was a South Beach); and having boatloads of fun without a care in the world.
It was sometime during my childhood that I dreamed of becoming a medical doctor like my dad. My dad a very charismatic man in his youth, small in stature but loved by everyone he met. My mother, a very sociable, Christian woman, enjoyed entertaining and hosting fabulous events with organizations such as the Links, Jack and Jill, and her beloved sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc.She was very pleasant with a quiet spirit, truly the backbone of our home during my childhood years. She made sure we attended Mount Sinai Baptist Church every Sunday, were in the best schools, and were taking classes that would challenge us academically. I vividly recall when our family moved to a home with a pool in an upper-middle-class neighborhood; it was 1971. Miami Shores, still grappling with integration, inclusion, and cultural diversity, reluctantly accepted my sister and me into their neighborhood and schools. My dad would always tell us that the cream always rises to the top. In many ways, he knew the challenges we faced, and always encouraged us to do our very best.
Taking on my dad's persona, I quickly learned how to interact well with others and excel in the classroom. Instructors enjoyed teaching me, and I embraced learning from them. By the time I graduated from Miami Edison Senior High School, I was strong, confident, and selfassured, with my sights on attending one of the most prestigious historically black colleges of our generation: Morehouse College.
Morehouse believed in the philosophy of W. E. B. Dubois and the "Talented Tenth." As black men, we were the African American leadership class selected to lead the masses through our intellect. Dr. Dubois eloquently described this philosophy in his manuscript of the early twentieth century.
Forging a bond with like-minded men and pursuing our professional goals was paramount to my success while matriculating through the halls of Morehouse College, with its mystique and notoriety. Becoming a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity (Psi chapter's Ly-On Nine), where our motto "Friendship is essential to the soul," is the essence of who I am as a man today.