MEDICAL TRAILBLAZERS
1813 : Dr . James McCune Smith , born into slavery in New York City , set his sights on becoming a doctor as a young man . He was denied admission to American colleges because he was black . However , he attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland , where he earned his bachelor ’ s , master ’ s , and medical degrees by age 24 . Dr . Smith mastered Latin , Greek , and French and developed a working knowledge of Hebrew , Italian , Spanish , and German . When he returned to New York City in 1837 , he established his medical office and pharmacy — making him the first African American doctor with his own practice in the United States . As a physician , he treated black and white patients and served as the chief doctor at the New York City Colored Orphan Asylum .
1831 : Dr . Rebecca Lee Crumpler , graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864 ; she became the first black female physician in the United States . That same year , she opened a medical practice in Boston . Before she attended college , Dr . Crumpler had worked as a nurse . She wrote in her Book of Medical Discourses , published in 1883 , that she “ sought every opportunity to relieve the suffering of others .” The book was one of the first publications about medicine written by an African American .
1856 : Dr . Daniel Hale Williams , after apprenticing with a surgeon , earned a medical degree and started working as a surgeon in Chicago in 1884 . Because of discrimination , hospitals barred black doctors from working on staff . So Dr . Williams opened the nation ’ s first black-owned interracial hospital , Provident Hospital , that offered training to African American interns and established America ’ s first school for black nurses . On July 10 , 1893 , Dr . Williams successfully repaired the pericardium ( the sac surrounding the heart ) of a man stabbed in a knife fight . The operation was the first documented successful openheart surgery on a human . Dr . Williams is regarded as the first African American cardiologist . He went on to cofound the National Medical Association and became the first black physician admitted to the American College of Surgeons .
Local Living Black Medical Trailblazers
Dr . Lisa Merritt , while working as a physician and observing significant differences in the rates of specific diseases and treatment of people from certain racial and socio-economic subgroups under her care , founded the Multicultural Health Institute ( MHI ) in 1995 . She recruited a group of doctors and community advocates to work with the Institute to initiate programs and authored several papers for medical journals focused on treatment and patient care . MHI relocated its headquarters to Sarasota in 2006 , where it continues to support government entities , non-profit organizations , and communitybased initiatives through its programs and research .
Dr . Washington Clark Hill is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist with Center Place Health and Sarasota Memorial Hospital . He has been an obstetriciangynecologist for 55 years , almost 30 in Sarasota , within the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System . Among various accolades , he is a voice and change agent for helping practicing physicians address implicit bias and racism in the health care system . �
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