DR . WHO Tamea Evans , MD by KATHRYN VANCE
“ I
blame my mother . She placed a strong emphasis on education and even as a toddler , I had a full set of encyclopedias with the human body and pages that folded out so you could see inside . She planted that seed early .”
Growing up in Flint , Michigan as the oldest child to teenage parents , Dr . Tamea Evans learned from the time she took her first steps that she had a love for education , and she soon found another love for helping people . In her blended family of 12 siblings , there was never a shortage of someone who needed that help . Early in childhood , she thought the best way to help others would be to go into politics . Fortunately , around the age of 16 , she watched a documentary that showed the process from conception to embryo to a baby and was fascinated . And suddenly , it was politics no more .
In high school , she sat for the SAT and when asked if she wanted info from private or public colleges , she marked private ( as someone interested in politics , at the time , she thought private meant better , she joked ). She ended up at Kalamazoo College , a liberal arts college that boasted a 90 % acceptance rate to medical school . She credits much of how she processes and disseminates information today to her undergraduate education .
“ K College taught me to be a self-learner and a self-teacher . They ’ re big on not being focused on just science , which I loved . We had these modules that would take you to lectures or events
on campus where you would listen to people or topics you would never ordinarily listen to . I learned a lot about the world beyond what I knew at the time . It made me more aware that I ’ m a whole person , not just somebody in science ,” she said . “ They had a speaker named Randall Robinson , a lawyer , author and activist known for founding TransAfrica and opposing apartheid in South Africa . He came and gave one of the most eye-opening speeches of my life about how we receive information and can sift through and be more discerning of information . That really helped me in medical school , how to discern what was important , not focusing on the minutia but focusing on the core of what I ’ m trying to hone in on .”
After graduation , Dr . Evans and her husband Rodney had their first child and she put her medical school aspirations on hold to become a stay-at-home mom . When they moved to Louisville for Rodney ’ s job , she was apprehensive about coming to the Commonwealth .
“ I was nervous about the stereotypes I ’ d seen of Kentucky on TV . I didn ’ t even know there were bustling cities ,” she laughed . “ But quickly , I fell in love with Louisville , especially as a parent .”
When their child was going into pre-school , she decided it was time to go back to medical school … but there was a slight hiccup .
“ I didn ’ t understand a lot about processes in school . I didn ’ t understand that you had to study for the MCAT . So I took it and didn ’ t do well and thought , ‘ Well I guess I ’ m not going to be a doctor .’ I knew I wanted to help people and I prayed to God and asked
30 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE