Woodard to graduate with residency, twins

The Woodard family, from left, husband Rondy with baby Ramel, Asja, and Lucille with baby Rondel. The twins were born March 21.

The most important day in the life of medical students – second only to commencement – is Match Day, the day when soon-to-be physicians find out where they will do their residencies. But, Lucille Woodard didn’t attend Match Day on March 17. She was home, on bed rest, waiting out an even more important match – twin boys (Ronel and Ramel), who were born four days later.

This month, Woodard earns her medical degree from UNMC, capping a journey she never imagined.

“As a child, being a doctor was pretty much the farthest possible career I could ever have imagined for myself,” Woodard said. “I never knew anybody in my family, church or community that was a doctor. And then, life dealt me some serious challenges pretty early on and it took a while to finally get the sense of direction and balance a young person needs to start focusing on such high goals.”

When Woodard was 8 years old and attending Belvedere Elementary School, she and her sister were taken from their mother and placed into state custody. As with many children placed in the foster care system, the girls moved from foster home to foster home. Some foster parents were good to them and cared, while others were – if not mean – totally indifferent and added to the already traumatized and fragile existence of the two youngsters.

“Perhaps the one thing that years in the foster care system gave me was a deep desire to be independent and have control over my own life,” Woodard said. “I really wanted to control my own destiny.

“But unfortunately, I was caught in an unstable social existence and not immune to the temptations troubled young people often find attractive. I ran with some of the wrong kids and eventually got into trouble with the law. I ended up on juvenile probation and, after violating those conditions, did some time in the Douglas County Youth Detention Center and even a short stay at the juvenile correction facility in Geneva, Neb.”

Woodard said there wasn’t any single moment when she decided it was time to grow up and use the brains many told her she had. But cooling her adolescent heels in Geneva probably provided that moment of revelation as good as any, she said.

Woodard returned to Omaha ready to take full responsibility for her life. She started getting grades at McMillan Junior High School that convinced her education was key to getting the control over her life. By the time she entered Northwest High School, she was an athletic scholar at almost 6 feet tall. She lettered in varsity volleyball and basketball all four years – earning All-Metro honors in both sports as a junior and senior – and also ran track in her junior and senior years. In addition, she participated in the Spanish Club, Thespian Club and African American Club. She graduated from Northwest in 1993.

Entering the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Woodard still didn’t know what she wanted to be. A medical career was at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t believe she could make it happen (“I mean, who was going to pay for me to go to school for the next eight years and then residency? I couldn’t possibly do that!”)

Woodard achieved the honor roll every semester at UNO. She was on the Goodrich Student Committee and also participated with Minority Associated Health Professionals. The latter organization facilitated her taking part in the Minority Medical Education Program in Chicago, Ill. That experience led to her commitment to pursue a medical degree.

Lucille Woodard

“That program gave me the opportunity to meet many minority peers from across the nation who were very similar to me and all of them also wanted to pursue a doctor of medicine degree. I stopped thinking that medicine was something I could never do and came back believing that if they can, I can, too,” she said.

Woodard received her bachelor’s of general studies degree (with an endorsement in biology) from UNO in 1998. The summer before entering medical school at UNMC, she became a juvenile detention specialist at the Douglas County Youth Detention Center. There she met Rondy Woodard, a 12-year employee at the facility. Their dating led to courtship, their first child, Asja, and marriage in 2001.

Rondy was a godsend, said Woodard, who was told she would have to do her first year of medical school over. The news almost broke her spirit, she said.

She took the next year off and was a stay-at-home mom, but knew she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t return to UNMC and give it one more try. Rondy was behind her every step of the way.

“My husband has been my rock, my everything,” Woodard said. “His wonderful support never wavered emotionally, physically, financially and in any other way I needed. He was a mother and father for Asja during all the times I just couldn’t be there for her during med school.”

With her husband’s support, she also had time to work with the Student National Medical Association all four years, including one year as an officer. She also participated in other student clubs, including AMA, AMSA, and Doc Talks, as well as provided medical assistance at numerous health screenings and health fairs.

“And from the moment I revealed that I was pregnant with twins, Rondy just stepped up the pace – as have I – and accepted this new stage of our life together,” she said. “My residency starts in July. But with God, the loving support of family and friends, and each other, we are up for the challenge and we’ll survive.”

Woodard will do her residency in family medicine at the Clarkson Family Medicine Program in Omaha. She said she always wanted to play an impact role in the African American community, especially among young people. She wants to be a shining example to other youths that despite their background and past behaviors, they can turn their lives around and, with a lot of determination and hard work, aspire to be whatever they want to be.

“As a family practice physician, I will be able to treat whole families,” Woodard said. “By being at the forefront of medicine, I will be able to see and impact many different patients and hopefully help to change mindsets and attitudes toward medicine and African American health, in general.

“I am living proof that, with God, all things are possible. That is something I hope to never forget and to always share with others. I have been blessed beyond measure. Now, that doesn’t mean that everything about my journey has been easy. I went through some hard times as a kid and, to be honest, there were many days, even very recently, that I just wanted to simply give up. However, I am still here. Despite all the obstacles, soon I will receive my medical degree from UNMC and nobody can take that away from me.”