On November 19, 2021, Dr. Kimberly Joseph, a surgeon who attended UMBC as an undergraduate, gave us a presentation about her journey through medicine.
Dr. Joseph describes how she double-majored in social work and biological sciences at UMBC. She did undergraduate research in botany with Dr. Thomas Marsho. Furthermore, she was heavily involved in the Ambassador’s Club and she obtained medical experience by working in Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.
Upon applying to medical school, she was accepted into many institutions, but she ultimately chose Columbia University. At Columbia, she received great support from the Black and Latin Student Organization, had great mentors and worked in pediatrics, the medical ICU and the breast surgery department.
Upon applying to residency, she matched at University of Illinois, Cook County Hospital. It was there that she decided that she wanted to focus her career around trauma. Also, during residency, she performed research during her second and third year. After her residency, Dr. Joseph did a fellowship at the Cook County Trauma Unit. During this time, she became heavily involved in ICU work.
As her career progressed, Dr. Joseph returned to her “social work roots”. She conducted violence prevention programs in Chicago public schools. She started a trauma unit for child abuse/neglect, intimate partner violence and substance use disorder. She also helped recruit a social worker and a chaplain to start a hospital-based violence intervention program. Furthermore, she formed a partnership with ceasefire, a hospital-linked violence interrupter program. She emphasized during her presentation that she could not have easily done all of this without a medical degree because she believed that more people were inclined to do what she told them because of her status as a medical doctor.
Dr. Joseph retired in 2017 but she still holds roles in the medical community. She is the national chair of the Advanced Trauma Life Support Course for the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. She is also still active in the surgical section of the National Medical Association.
Her full presentation can be viewed in the recording link below:
https://umbc.webex.com/webappng/sites/umbc/recording/2e3772f52b99103ab6ff005056814297/playback