Sometimes the destination is long but upon arrival, you will learn it was all just a part of the plan. And, Carl Allamby experienced this lesson firsthand.

As a board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Anika Goodwin is an expert in eye reconstructive surgery. She has performed 10,000 eye procedures during the span of her 15-year career and is the CEO of EYEmergencyMD, an ocular telehealth company committed to improving access to eye physicians and ending preventable blindness. To add to her impressive repertoire of innovation and problem-solving, Dr. Goodwin has personified what it means to be a culturally competent physician. Marrying her passions of medicine and beauty, the oculoplastic reconstructive surgeon created OpulenceMD Beauty, a lash company dedicated to providing stylish yet healthy lash extensions. “I’m a bit of a creative,” she told Black Enterprise , “and I honestly believe that was one of the things that led me to love ophthalmology. I enjoy beautifying. My specialty of ophthalmology is called oculoplastic reconstructive surgery and so I focus on making the eyes the eyelids, and the facial structures that support the eyes,...

In 2017, Ncumisa Jilata became Africa’s youngest neurosurgeon at 29-years-old, after completing a five-year fellowship at the University of Pretoria located in South Africa. Dr. Jilata’s medical journey began in 2003 when she was in the 11th grade. Her rigorous path included a packed course schedule of condensing three years of biology into just one year. “I was already in Grade 11 when I decided I want to be a doctor, but at the time I wasn’t doing biology, so when I got to matric I had to do three years of biology in one year, in addition to the subjects I had already selected from Grade 10,” she told Dispatch Live. During her time in high school, Dr. Jilata developed a fascination with the brain and the neuron, which would ultimately lead her to set her sights on becoming a neurosurgeon. “During that period I discovered the concept of a neuron, which is amazing, and the fact that society as a whole is influenced and controlled solely by the existence of this structure, intrigued...

Myron Rolle — former NFL defensive back for the Tennessee Titians — is a physician fighting on the frontlines in the battle against the coronavirus. As a third-year neurosurgeon resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, Rolle is among the doctors and healthcare providers doing their best to save the lives of patients suffering from COVID-19. According to People , Rolle was selected in the sixth round by the Tennesse Titians in the 2010 NFL draft, but after three seasons, he left football to go to medical school. Hospitals around the country are operating at capacity and Massachusetts General Hospital is no different. “Our neurosurgical floor has been transformed into a floor just full of COVID-19 patients,” Rolle told ESPN. “It is hectic, that’s for sure.” Rolle has been documenting what it’s like to be a doctor during the pandemic via Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Myron Rolle, MD MSc (@myronlrolle) He explains how the Massachusetts General Hospital may...

Growing up as a child in Compton, California, LaShyra “Lash” Nolen dreamed of being a neurosurgeon and an astronaut. Her ambitions proved to be profitable leading her to become the first Black woman class president of Harvard Medical School (HMS). Born to a single mother, who earned a master’s degree while working several jobs, Lash remembers her mother encouraging and affirming her dreams. “Mom pursued life with grit and a desire to win. She would tell me: ‘I’ll see you at the top,'” Lash told Teen Vogue . Today Lash is an activist, HMS class president, and Fulbright scholar. Lash doesn’t take her position as class president lightly and knows what her achievement means for others. “For me it means opportunity — opportunity in the sense that it will allow me to create a pipeline for others who look like me to hold positions of leadership at Harvard Medical School,” Lash told Teen Vogue. When asked how she deals with excelling to new heights in the world of medicine, a predominately...

Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green — a multi-disciplinary physicist and the second African American woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham — has become the first to successfully cure cancer using laser-activated nanoparticles. According to Black Culture News , she received a $1.1 million grant to expand her nanoparticle cancer treatment research. As the founder of Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation , Dr. Green’s revolutionary nanoparticle technology does not require patients to undergo chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery and was found to successfully cure cancer after testing on mice within 15 days. According to Black Culture News, Dr. Green’s interest in cancer treatment stems from witnessing the death of her aunt, Ora Lee, who suffered from cancer and her uncle, General Lee Smith, who also was diagnosed with cancer and experienced the negative side effects of traditional chemotherapy treatment. Dr. Green’s passion to find a better way to...