“WE WERE SO IMMERSED INTO HBCU CULTURE AND
INFLUENCED BY OUR PARENTS, AUNTS, UNCLES, SIBLINGS. I FEEL LIKE WE DID THE SAME THING FOR OUR KIDS. MY MOM WAS A STRONG PROPONENT OF
HBCU EDUCATION.” - DR. JAMIE LOWTHER
“I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO PRIMARY CARE. I KNEW THERE WAS A NEED FOR PREVENTION EDUCATION AND ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE, ESPECIALLY IN OUR COMMUNITIES. - DR. KEISHA LOWTHER
“Especially now in Alabama where access to healthcare is at risk, I feel that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” said Keisha, who investigated immune cell migration in children with congenital heart defects at the Pediatric Cardiology Research Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham after graduating from Stillman. “I always wanted to do primary care,” she continued. “I knew there was a need for prevention education and access to healthcare, especially in our communities. I have more cush hours and am still able to stay
opportunities and challenges to working in rural environments in the medical field, the couple noted. In many cases, you may be the only physician in the hospital due to a shortage of medical professionals, requiring doctors to rely more on medical instinct and gut feelings. “In these areas, you have to wear a lot of hats compared to if you were working in a place that has more access,” said Jamie. “You really have to know that there may not be a urologist or cardiologist in the vicinity. It makes us rely more broadly on our medical knowledge and use social services in the city. And
because of late access, we find in rural areas that you have much more aggressive pathology. I see a lot of young people with amputations, stroke, heart failure that you just would not see in a place that has more access.” Particularly, in Alabama, some areas are predominately white, and the Lowthers will find themselves caring for patients with Confederate tattoos, MAGA paraphernalia or unwarranted distrust. “I remind myself that I’ve got what it takes to be in this room,” said Keisha. “I imagine that everybody
Continuing the HBCU Legacy Drs. Jamie and Keisha Lowther are both 50, both HBCU- trained medical doctors with children who attend HBCUs in the Atlantic University Center Consortium (AUCC). They are living out a legacy of what they each call privilege, ordained by their respective families through motivation, support and modeling. “We were so immersed into HBCU culture and influenced by our parents, aunts, uncles, siblings,” said Jamie, who graduated from Morehouse in 1997, cum laude. “I feel like we did the same thing for our kids. My mom was a strong proponent of HBCU
true to my commitment.” There are, indeed, unique
in my family is there in the examination room with me.”
2 6 | HBCU TIMES FALL ISSUE 2025
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