The Howard University College of Medicine, one of the leading producers of female surgeons and African-American medical school graduates, will celebrate their 140th anniversary this Saturday.
As one of the region’s oldest medical schools, the College of Medicine has trained 50 female surgeons since its first female graduate in 1977. The College of Medicine is a top contender in comparison to one of the world’s most prestigious medical schools, Johns Hopkins University, which has only produced 21 female surgeons since its inception in 1893.
According to the dean of Howard University’s College of Medicine, Robert E. Taylor, gender diversity has always been of importance and is based on the mission of the university. “At a time when women couldn’t even vote, we were admitting and graduating them,” Taylor said.
However, experts say there is a shortage of female surgeons, which is expected to deepen substantially in the coming years. Dr. Debra Ford, a graduate of Howard’s surgery training program in 1991 who is now vice chair of the Department of Surgery, feels this is due to the lack of recruitment of women in the specialty of surgery.
“The numbers are increasing of women coming out of medical school and choosing medical careers,” Ford said. “But it’s not increasing at a high enough rate to meet the demand we know we’re going to need in the future.”
Ford, who is also the director of the General Surgery Residency Program, graduated at the top of her class. Despite the opportunities to continue on her career elsewhere, she chose to stay at Howard among her peers. “I wanted to train here with some of the best African-American surgeons in the world,” she said.
Howard University continues to produce more medical degrees to African-Americans than any other institution in the nation. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, Howard graduated 77 African-American students compared to its closest competitor, the University of Maryland, which only graduated 35 in 2007.
Dr. Wayne Frederick, the current director of the Cancer Center, is also a graduate of the Howard College of Medicine. He was an exceptionally smart teenager from Port of Spain, Trinidad, suffering with sickle cell disease and looking for somewhere to attend college.
Frederick graduated high school at the age of 14 and began at Howard at age 16.
“Howard is a place that was very warm and accommodating, everyone was very encouraging,” Frederick said.
Frederick’s mother approved of Howard University because it is one of the few schools that had a Sickle Cell Center. He earned his bachelor and medical degrees at the university and completed his residency in general surgery at Howard University Hospital, an experience he feels he couldn’t gain anywhere else.
“I always refer back to a speech Barack Obama made during the 2004 Democratic National Convention,” he said. “He made a comment about how only in America this could happen. I think the same way about Howard, I think only at Howard could someone at my age without many means receive two degrees and become a surgeon.”
Dean Taylor described the College of Medicine as the “go-to place,” among African Americans. According to Taylor, here, students can learn about health disparities and get involved in a career of service. Often times, there are incoming students who attend major high schools, colleges and universities who can go to any medical school in the country, but choose Howard.
“They want to come back to the mission of serving under-served communities,” he said.
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