"As much as I want you to be successful for you, I want you to
be successful for all the
populations you represent. We
need you because the access to health care for minorities in this country, to a large extent, will depend on your presence."

"The Health Vulnerable: Getting to Higher Ground"

1998: Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O.
The first African-American woman to be named dean of a U.S. medical school, Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee is on a mission to impress upon medical students the importance of cultural sensitivity and the importance of keeping minority health on the public agenda. 
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“Each year, over 50,000 minorities die from preventable diseases,” she says. “That’s shameful and you [medical students] must address it.”
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Ross-Lee gives several reasons for her concern about minority health: “I nearly hemorrhaged to death from a tonsillectomy at age 16. I lost my first born child to cardiac complications from German measles. My youngest child was born prematurely at five and a half months. She survived, weighing just two pounds. I lost two subsequent pregnancies due to blood poisoning. My mother died from breast cancer that was diagnosed too late.”
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The oldest of six children from a poor inner-city Detroit housing project, Ross-Lee became surrogate mother at age 10 when her mother was hospitalized for two years with tuberculosis. Although confronted with numerous obstacles before becoming a doctor, Ross-Lee never let go of her dreams. After graduating from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1973, Ross-Lee ran a bustling family practice 
in inner-city Detroit for 10 years. She has worked tirelessly throughout her career to address the health care needs of vulnerable populations, especially women, children and minorities. 
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During her presentation, “The Health Vulnerable: Getting to High Ground,” Ross-Lee chronicles her rise from poverty to deanship, and reveals the personal and professional motivation behind her life mission.