Anise Adams, an African American, fourth-year medical student at UNMC has received the 2002-2003 Academic Physician and Scientist Minority Medical Student Scholarship for $5,000. 
The scholarship is awarded to a medical student who is in good academic standing from a traditionally underrepresented group as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The student also must be in his or her senior year of medical school and scheduled to graduate at the end of that academic year.
Each year, AAMC officials hold a random drawing to select one of the existing 125 U.S. medical schools licensed by AAMC to receive the scholarship the following year. After notification of selection, officials of UNMC’s College of Medicine chose Adams to be the recipient.
Educational background
The daughter of Bill Adams of Miami and Linda Harrison of Omaha, Adams graduated from Papillion LaVista High School in 1994. She was president of her senior class, vice president of the student council and a member of the honor society. In 1998, Adams earned a bachelor’s of science degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She will receive her medical degree in May 2003 and pursue a residency in general surgery.
Adams’ grandmother was a minister and always encouraged her and her three siblings to serve the community and help others. Adams’ love of science, combined with her grandmother’s inspiration, sparked her dream to study medicine in junior high school.
A drive to suceed
Adams is grateful for the recognition she has received as a minority medical student, but is quick to point out that her success has always been a personal goal. She doesn’t like to see herself as an exception, but feels low standards of achievement by some minorities, combined with negative external perceptions by some non-minorities, fuel the notion that individual achievers like Adams must be exceptional super-students.
“Whenever I have the opportunity to talk with younger students, I try to point out that they also have access to the same things that helped me succeed,” Adams said. “First of all, optimism and hope are so
important. There have been so many days when I really felt that I couldn’t do this. You really have to be ready to make sacrifices. You have to believe that you will get past the many blocks that may cross your path.
“Perseverance is another vital part of success, no matter what you want to do in life, let alone attend medical school. There are always going to be people around who don’t believe you can make it, and maybe even believe that you don’t belong. Sometimes spite drove me forward — I wasn’t going to let anybody make be believe that I can’t be a doctor. The best way to get back at people with negative beliefs about your ability is to succeed.”
Adams believes talking to children about advanced education needs to start in elementary school, not high school. By high school it’s too late to challenge the poor academics and self-esteem issues among minority children. She believes mentors, parents and teachers have to encourage the study of math and science by the third grade.
Spanish immersion
Last summer, Adams spent 30 days immersed in Latino culture in a special program for American medical students in Guatemala. “I learned to really communicate in Spanish,” she said. “Even more, I really came to appreciate how spoiled we can be in America. Americans can have 50 pages of doctors to select from in the yellow pages while Guatemalan people may have to drive an hour to get to a physician at all.
“I met a priest there who has created a land program to enable the poor to become independent farmers. They gave back a portion of their earnings to the program and this money helped fund a new hospital and school. Guatemalans really reminded me of just how much a single individual can do for his or her community and how much more each American could do to help our country.”
In Guatemala, Adams worked at a primary care clinic mostly doing ophthalmologic exams. She discovered that many of that nation’s children suffer from profound birth defects and other problems. Because medical services are so limited, particularly in rural areas, the children and their families view their medical treatment as a miracle. In addition, doctors in Guatemala become part of the family, she said. There is a tremendous personal involvement with the children and their parents.
Becoming a surgeon
Adams’ desire to become a surgeon was solidified during a rotation with pediatric surgeons at Children’s Hospital in Omaha.
“I like the hands-on nature of surgery,” Adams said. “You have the challenges of diagnostic analysis combined with the technical skills of surgery — you’re directly healing people.”
Working at the CDC
This fall, Adams began a rotation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. She worked in the CDC Emergency Operations Center on the transfusion-related transmission of West Nile Virus. Adams helped with a West Nile virus sero-survey in Louisiana and participated in the investigation of a Rhabdomyolysis cluster in Illinois. Rhabdomyolysis is an acute, sometimes fatal disease characterized by destruction of the skeletal muscle.
Adams said she learned a lot about the public health side of medicine in America while at the CDC – and also had a lot of fun. Her initial responsibility was to assist with statistical analysis and creation of a booklet that offers state-by-state variables on pregnancy-related health issues and each opportunity thereafter was progressively more challenging.
“Epidemiology and public health is very important,” Adams said. “We have to look more at the health of the population as a whole, rather than just the individual. As a physician focusing on just individual patients, it is easy to get tunnel vision. But the key to mass health improvement is prevention and prevention is still woefully inadequate and under funded. There is a lot of misinformation out there and my experiences at the CDC have really helped me develop a sense of ‘big picture medicine.’ ”
Future plans
In December, Adams will begin a rotation in cardio-thoracic surgery at Boston University Medical Center. After that, she will complete her studies at UNMC and, on May 17, 2003, receive her medical degree.
Adams won’t know until the annual medical residents’ Match Day where she will do her residency. One thing is for sure — she won’t be going alone. Adams will be getting married next summer after her graduation. Her fiancé, currently a member of the flight crew on the U.S. Air Force AWAC surveillance aircraft, will leave the military and join her when she does her residency.
“I am really happy with the great opportunities and experiences I am receiving,” Adams said. “I know a lot of efforts have been made on my behalf since junior high school and especially at UNMC’s College of Medicine. I am really grateful for the opportunities that UNMC has given me. I feel I have been given the information and insight I need to be a good physician. I look forward to developing an excellent medical career and enjoying life with a great supportive husband.”