Tamia Potter is the first Black woman neurosurgery resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, an institution founded nearly 150 years ago.
This achievement is even more remarkable given that, as of 2019, only 0.6% of neurosurgeons in the United States were Black Women.
Potter is on the brink of breaking a barrier, yet her origin story provides insight into just how much distance a Black woman must travel to succeed.
Potter was born and raised in Crawfordville, Florida, a small town where front doors are rarely locked and neighbors feel like family. And as a child — when she wasn’t outside mud-bogging on an ATV or eating fresh food from her grandparent’s farm — she studied the human body.
Inspired by her mother, a nurse, Potter developed an early, insatiable curiosity for anatomy and science. During high school, Potter became a nursing assistant and cared for patients in nursing homes suffering from dementia.
While in college she was able to observe neurosurgery in the operating room, a moment that truly inspired her path. Potter would go on to complete medical school at Case Western Reserve University with plans to become a neurosurgeon herself.
Well done!!
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