Models and Mentors
In Conversation with Leroy Sims, Stanford Medical Student
Medical student Leroy Sims, currently working on a Howard Hughes Research Training Fellowship, has served as the National Minority Affairs Coordinator for the American Medical Student Association. He has also played an active role in the Stanford University Minority Medical Alliance (SUMMA), organizing a conference for minority premedical students, which attracted close to 600 attendees.
When did you decide you wanted to be a doctor?
My first concrete memory of wanting to be a doctor was my sophomore year of high school during Biology. We had just finished our dissections of a fetal pig and for extra credit my teacher let me open up the head to see the brain. I've been thinking about Neurosurgery since. While an undergrad at Stanford, I explored various fields to sort of "rule them in or out," like working in Corporate America, working at a Biotech company, doing international research and clinical work, studying everything from Buddhism to Economics to premed courses. I found that the sciences, and ultimately the health sciences, stimulated me the most.
As an undergraduate, you spent a summer doing biomedical research in Mali as an NIH Fogerty Fellow. While there, you also spent time in a clinical setting interacting with patients. How is clinical care different in Mali than in the United States? Did this experience abroad influence your view of medicine, or shape your career goals in any way?
My time in Africa served to reinforce my desire to practice medicine. It also increased my interest in international medicine. I know that I will spend time working for MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres), also known as Doctors Without Borders.
The following is an excerpt from my journal during my time in Mali:
My first experience with medicine in Mali was at the pediatric hospital, Gabriel Touré. I was surprised to learn that it was the only hospital in the country with pediatricians. The site was filled to capacity with women and their children. The patient rooms contained several beds, none of which were separated by curtains for privacy. The mothers were present with their children around the clock--that appears to be a very comforting idea for the young even while medicine or examinations were being administered. Other interesting discoveries that I made were that here you need a prescription for medication like Tylenol for headaches; the hospital does not provide food, so the family has to. This means if your family does not bring you food, you do not eat. There is a cooking facility outdoors on the hospital grounds; and those who do not have money for the requisite medicine simply do not receive treatment. I found the structure of the hospitals to be quite unusual in the sense that the maternity ward and the pediatric hospital are situated far apart at two different locations in the city. As I toured the hospital, I heard one of the doctors say that most of the children who are born under circumstances that require urgent attention generally survive if they reach the pediatric hospital in time. The short time that I spent at the hospital was a brief introduction to a summer that helped profoundly deepen my appreciation for the simple things that are available in the United States. Upon leaving Mali , I realize how fortunate and blessed I am and how much I take things for granted that people in Third World countries struggle to get.
I spent more time at l'Hôpital du Point G (the hospital at the University of Mali ) than at Gabriel Touré. I spent my time there on the Hematology and Oncology wards. The rooms in this hospital were more crowded than the ones at the pediatric hospital. There were usually three people per room, with each bed separated by a wall about four feet high. Some rooms had air conditioning (for people with money), but most did not. The time I spent at the two hospitals left an impression on me and made me even more eager to contribute to the field of medicine and help those in need.
You completed your undergraduate work at Stanford, and earned a Masters degree in biology from Stanford in 2002. Why did you decide to stay at Stanford for medical school?
It was not an easy decision. In fact, I really wanted to go to UCLA. Three people had a strong impact on my decision to stay: Dr. Paul Fisher in Neurology (my faculty interviewer), Rich Cano (my student interviewer), and Dr. Tom Raffin (a friend). Some of them were more frank than others in comparing UCLA and Stanford. I mean very frank! Though I had been here for five years already, at the end of the day it made sense for me to stay here. The financial aid was unbeatable, the community (especially the minority community) was a family, Stanford students "love it here" (something I did not see at other places), the flexibility of the course load and schedule, and finally knowing that if I wanted to make an impact I could start immediately at Stanford because of connections and ties I already had in place (somewhere else I would have to start the networking process all over and make a name for myself). This last reason had the most weight.
How did you get involved with SUMMA (Stanford University Minority Medical Alliance)? Can you tell us a little more about SUMMA's mission?
Being involved with SUMMA was a no-brainer. I was never able to attend SUMMA as an undergrad because the conference was always on a Saturday. I was on the Track team at Stanford and during the winter we traveled to our meets because we don't have an indoor track here. Whenever SUMMA came around, I was out of town. Once I became a medical student at Stanford, SUMMA was one of the first organizations I sought out.
SUMMA is a coalition of African American, Latino, and Native American medical students committed to recruiting and retaining underrepresented medical professionals. Every year, SUMMA hosts the largest minority premedical conference on the west coast, typically drawing 400-600 attendees each year. The goal of the conference is to increase the number of minority applicants to the health professional fields so that we can better serve our communities.
What did you learn from your experience coordinating SUMMA's annual premedical conference? What was the most challenging part of your job?
SUMMA taught me that there is still a need for programs and agendas like SUMMA. We had about 600 participants (100 of whom were high school students), and each person walked away inspired; with information that their school could not/did not offer them about applying to medical school, the opportunities for minorities in medicine, scholarship options, etc.; and tangible examples of people who look like them, grew up like them, had struggles, but who are succeeding in living out their dream of becoming a doctor. People who say that we have reached equality in America are lying to themselves. There is still a need to help those who have less. In the end, it's those who have had less growing up who succeed and end up giving back to undeserved communities.
The biggest challenge was living up to the lofty expectation of hosting a motivating conference that would resonate with each participant. The SUMMA coordinators and the SUMMA community (i.e., everyone who contributes to make the conference a success) devote a significant amount of time to organizing SUMMA. Come January, SUMMA is a priority and many hours are spent finalizing everything. The SUMMA coordinators make huge sacrifices in their personal and academic lives for the sake of the conference.
What topics or issues did you address during the SUMMA conference?
FACES Presentation: An intimate look at the experiences of Stanford Medical Students
Foundation Workshops: Making Yourself a Better Applicant; Med School Life; Study Skills and Time Management
Applicant Workshops: Applying to Medical School; Medical School Curriculum
General Workshops: The Interview Process; NIH Research Opportunities; Non-Traditional Students Panel; MCAT Preparation; Scholarly Extracurricular Activities
Center of Excellence (COE) Advisors Workshop: For pre-medical advisors and high school & college counselors
High School Workshops: Applying to College; College Life; Health Issues Impacting Teens
You've also worked with the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), as coordinator of National Minority Affairs [ href: http://www.amsa.org/adv/mac/ ]. Can you tell us about some of the projects you've been involved with?
I served as National Minority Affairs Coordinator with Asha Freeman (medical student at Temple University). The following are some of the highlights of the year:
Affirmative Action: In April, the MAC coordinators were called upon to make a statement regarding Affirmative Action in light of the University of Michigan ’s Supreme Court Case. The statement that we prepared assisted in an Affirmative Action fact sheet produced by Vidooshi Gupta, AMSA’s Jack Rutledge Intern.
Women’s Empowerment Institute:The Women's Empowerment Institute is a year-long institute. The Institute begins with a weekend in January 2004 at the national AMSA headquarters, where selected women will participate in leadership skills development workshops. The Monday following the workshops, each participant will set out for Washington, D.C. to meet with her Congressperson and Senator to practice the skills of lobbying. The final phase of the institute is the community project, which each woman will develop during the weekend and carry forth in the next year. In the process, the selected women will find valuable mentors and develop a network with future female leaders. We were specifically involved in planning Lobby Day on Capitol Hill regarding the Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003 (bill HR 953/S.486) and the application process.
AMSA National Convention: The final program includes a presentation from Dr. Toussaint and a presentation from Nick Rubashkin, a Stanford medical student, on his book, “What I Learned in Medical School: Personal Stories of Young Doctors” (a collection of medical students' personal stories on issues of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and disability). This workshop will teach about the historic struggle to change medicine from a profession of homogeneity to the diverse one we find today. The session will end in an interactive format where students can share experiences as the "new faces of medicine”.
MAC Projects:The two projects that MAC planned at the beginning of the year were Students Helping Other Students (S.H.O.S.) and Step-for-Step. Both programs focused on peer mentorship as a way to increase minority pre-med student interest in medical school. S.H.O.S., spear-headed by Robert Milanes (the MAC Premed Liaison), involved college students mentoring high school students, and Step-for-Step, spearheaded by Leroy Sims, involved medical students mentoring college students.
Listserve: The MAC listserve activity was maintained throughout the year, with postings of relevant news items, internship and scholarship information for minority students, as well as updates on MAC activities and ways for members to get involved with AMSA.
Do you know what specialty you want to pursue? What do you want to be doing a decade or two from now?
Neurosurgery. A decade or two from now I want to be a successful neurosurgeon. What is my gauge for success? The impact I have on the lives of my colleagues, clients and community, as well as my expertise with the books, at the bench, and by the bedside. Apart from satisfying my professional interests, I also want to accomplish three personal goals: 1) to show appreciation for the help given to me by friends, benefactors, and mentors by giving back to my community, 2) to make my education and success meaningful by positively impacting others, and 3) to fulfill the nationwide campaign mandate of former Surgeon General David Satcher: the creation of African-American mentors in research, academia, and medicine. I want to be a familiar face sought for guidance by a budding African-American scientist, clinician, or student. I want to answer questions like “Why do research?” or “Why is it important for me as an underrepresented minority to do research?” - questions that have yet to be answered for me. I want to advance scientific knowledge through translational research that starts in the lab and enhances a patient’s quality of life in the hospital and community. I want a career in which I will never leave the steep end of the learning curve, I can teach others, and I can be a successful academician. The union of academic and clinical medicine in the field of neurosurgery provides an ideal environment for attaining all of these goals.
How do you see yourself integrating service into your professional life as a physician and/or into your personal life?
Service has been, is, and always will be, a part of my life. If I have an MD, but do not give back to communities in need--communities like the one where I grew up in inner-city Chicago--then my MD is in vain.
Do you have any role models?
My grandmother (without her guidance and disciplining, I would not be here), Dr. John Flygare (my Organic Chemistry professor, mentor, former employer and friend), Rev. Robert Thompson (my advisor at Exeter and father-figure) and Dr. Ben Carson (world renown neurosurgeon).
What are your favorite books?
Sula and Tar Baby by Toni Morrison
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- Interview by Lauren Cochran
