We often say that we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams. And at Johns Hopkins Hospital, five surgical residents are living in this truth.
Doctors Valentine S. Alia, M.D. (second-year resident), Lawrence B. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. (seventh-year resident), Ivy Mannoh, M.D. (third-year resident), Zachary Obinna Enumah, M.D., Ph.D., M.A. (ninth-year and critical care fellow) and Ifeoluwa “Ife” Shoyombo, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. (third-year resident) are now leading the hospital’s flagship Halsted service in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery — marking the first time in the residency program’s history that an all-Black team of senior residents and second year post graduate specialized residents has taken the reins.
“A historic moment for our program. For the first time in program history, our flagship Halsted service (Trauma & ACS) is led by an all-Black team of senior residents and PGY-2s [Postgraduate Year Two residents],” an Instagram caption read, spotlighting the groundbreaking moment. “Black individuals comprise 13% of the U.S. population but only 6% of general surgeons nationwide. This #BlackHistoryMonth, we recognize this milestone while continuing the work to build a more representative surgical workforce.”
Despite each coming from different backgrounds, the milestone feels deeply personal.
“My parents are so proud. I am the first physician in my family, and I think it’s so impactful. Brown told ABC News. “It’s service. That’s what’s important to me. Equity has to remain at the forefront of how we deliver patient care, how we do research, how we scale programs up in our healthcare system.”
“Growing up in Columbus, Georgia, in the 1990s, I watched my parents, my mom, a family medicine doc, my dad, a general surgeon, show up to serve patients every day,” Dr. Enumah told the outlet.
Yet even as he follows in his parents’ footsteps, Enumah and his colleagues are also walking a path paved generations before them by Vivien Thomas, the pioneering cardiac surgery innovator who, in 1941, became the first Black person to wear a white coat in the halls of Johns Hopkins.
At a time when Black physicians were barred from admission as faculty or students, Thomas revolutionized cardiac surgery, developing groundbreaking techniques that transformed modern medicine…all without a formal medical degree. Though racial barriers denied him the credentials his brilliance merited, Johns Hopkins awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1976. Today, his legacy lives on through initiatives like the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative and a portrait that hangs in the hospital’s corridors
In the widely shared photo of the five residents, Thomas’ portrait hangs in the background, serving as a reminder of the significance of their accomplishments. Just as Thomas’ work inspired generations of Black scientists and doctors, Dr. Shiombo hopes that his work inspires a future generation of dreamers.
“The best part is that I get to save lives and have an impact every single day. To anyone who’s watching, realize that your dream and capacity can only be limited by you. And if you can think it, see it, then you can absolutely reach it,” he concluded.
