education. She was the oldest of her brothers and sisters and many of them followed in her footsteps attending Albany State College (now Albany State University) and Fort Valley State University. It’s kinda’ in our blood. We couldn’t wait for it to be our turn.” On both sides, the Lowthers’ parents, brothers, cousins and nieces have or currently attend Morehouse College, Albany State, South Carolina State, Alabama A&M, Miles College and Howard, while their own children attend Morehouse and Spelman, having declined scholarship offers from seven Ivy League institutions. “Our kids knew there were other schools out there, but they knew where their home was going to
be,” said Keisha. “I attended a PWI high school and I know you’re not doing yourself justice if you don’t go to an HBCU. I didn’t have my first Black teacher until I went to Stillman. Stillman showed me being a doctor was possible. I was nurtured and pushed. I knew even in high school an HBCU would be where I would thrive and what I needed.” Similarly, Jamie said he never saw a Black doctor in his childhood, outside of Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable from television’s “The Cosby Show.” He knew several people who left for college at PWIs with the intention of becoming a doctor but didn’t make it because of the lack of support and absence of academia’s cultural competence.
“When you get to Morehouse, you see what you will be,” said Jamie. “Several classmates there were second-generation lawyers, doctors, and it seemed real and tangible.” To Future HBCU Med Students Jamie is a proponent of “getting your first four at an HBCU” for a good foundation and to receive a healthy dose of competition before going to graduate school or starting a career. “There wasn’t a malignant competition, it was a healthy competition,” he said. “In addition to being nourished, there’s a healthy competition amongst students and study groups. You’re going to get that exposure where you hear fellow students
saying ‘Hey, I’m doing a summer program at Harvard or Duke for the summer.’ That healthy, positive motivation, that positive peer pressure helped shape and push me to be prepared for the next level.” Keisha said medical students should not sleep on considering rural medicine because there’s a critical need for doctors in densely populated areas and in many cases ancillary benefits are offered to encourage applicants. “There’s a need to recruit and a lot of incentives to help bring physicians into the community,” she said. “And the community really appreciates you. One restaurant in Demopolis makes sure to put aside turkey wings for Jamie.”
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