Florence De George Boys & Girls Club members interested in pursuing a career in the medical field had the exciting opportunity to appear on WPTV News. The members got to speak about their recent trip to Good Samaritan Medical Center, where they got to talk with Assistant Medical Director of the Emergency Department and Florence De George Boys & Girls Club mentor, Dr. Shanteria Dixon.
The Florence De George Mentorship Program is about seeing yourself in someone else, somewhere else.
“I just really hope the girls see a little bit of themselves in the doctor,” said Candace Burrs, Florence De George Executive Club Director. “See themselves in the space and know that they have a team, a support system, and they can achieve anything they put their minds to.”
Dr. Shanteria Dixon was hit by a drunk driver as a teenager, which led her to her love of medicine, volunteering at Good Samaritan and St. Mary’s, only to get hired there one day.
“I feel it’s a privilege and a duty to give back to the community where I came from, to inspire youth to do what I did, to rise up through trials and tribulations with no means,” said Dr. Shanteria Dixon. “I want these girls to know that even though those barriers will probably always exist, and that we are probably always going to live in a country where it is easier for individuals with privilege to survive and make it through college and medical school, but it is not impossible for someone who came from nothing.”
The group of Club members visited Good Samaritan Medical Center to learn about the thrilling world of medicine, but instead learned a much bigger lesson.
“I think I have adjusted my goal over the years,” said Dr. Shanteria Dixon. “Initially, I wanted to save the world and help everyone from this community have a better life, but I think at this point, being realistic, if even one or two girls are able to hear my story or see my path in life, to grow up in poverty and still make it, I think at the other end- that will be enough for me.”
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