![\"ajheadshot\"](\"\/camed\/files\/2017\/10\/ajheadshot.png\")
\nBoston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. On December 28th, 1988 my
\nmother, Marilyn Johnson, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. On December 29th, 1988 my father wrote a letter to my mom stating that
\nshe would have a son named Adam. After the chemotherapy, radiation and
\nmastectomy, in 1990 she discovered she was pregnant. One of her
\noncologist suggested she have an abortion because the pregnancy would
\nincrease the rate at which the cancer would recur. She chose to
\ncontinue the pregnancy and on June 28th, 1991 I was born, ironically
\nenough, my astrological sign being a “cancer.” Unfortunately, the
\ncancer recurred in 2001 and in 2011 my mom passed secondary to a
\nmyriad of health complications. In the same way that my mom, CHOSE the
\nscarier option, I honor her decision as I have chosen to pursue a
\ncareer in surgery while educating and inspiring the next generation of
\nphysicians.
\nI had the privilege of working with the Boston Area Health Education
\nCenter (BAHEC) under the Boston Public Health Commission. With this
\nopportunity, I created the Summer Medical Exposure Bootcamp (SMEB) for
\nunderrepresented minority high school students from Boston. Over the
\ncourse of 6 weeks, students were exposed to medical topics including
\nneurology, obstetrics, gynecology, internal medicine, radiology,
\nemergency medicine and surgery. Each week the students were lectured
\nby physicians from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and participated in
\nhands on activities including physical exam skills, holding an actual
\nbrain, laparoscopic skills workshop in the Solomon Center and a
\nsuturing workshop led by two BMC surgical residents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"