After being hit by a drunk driver at 13, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. Now I work in the same emergency room that saved me that night.
Courtesy of Shanteria Dixon
- Dr. Shanteria Dixon is an emergency-room physician.
- She works in the same hospital that treated her for more than a month when she was 13.
- This is Dixon's story, as told to Kelly Burch.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shanteria Dixon. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was only 13, I was hit by a drunk driver near my home in West Palm Beach, Florida. I was rushed to St. Mary's Medical Center, where I underwent eight hours of surgery. I don't remember much about that visit other than a kind doctor trying to make me feel better.
Recovering from the accident was a long, arduous process. I spent time in the intensive-care unit before I was discharged for home rehab. But my mom had recently had heart surgery herself. She was a single mom, and looking after a bedbound teenager was too difficult, so I returned to the medical center and spent about a month on the rehabilitation floor.
One day I told my nurse that she had taken such good care that I was inspired to become a nurse. She replied: "You're so young. Why don't you become a doctor?" That planted a seed.
Today I'm the assistant medical director of the adult emergency department at St. Mary's Medical Center. My experience as a patient makes me a much, much better doctor. When you've gone through something, you know how it feels, so I aim to give each patient the care I'd want if I were in the hospital bed.
My surgeon took me under his wing, and we're still in touch
When I was discharged after my accident, I wrote a thank-you note to that kind doctor from the first night, Dr. Richard Weiner. I also asked him if I could volunteer in his clinic.
I remember exactly where I was sitting in our Section 8 apartment when he called me. He told me I didn't need to volunteer — he'd offer me an after-school job.
That started years of working and volunteering at St. Mary's. I had to start with clerical work, but I knew that was part of my way toward volunteering in the ER. Whenever Dr. Weiner had an interesting patient, he showed me. I shadowed him during surgeries.
Having a very important, busy surgeon take me under his wing fostered my love of medicine. I keep in touch with him to this day.
It was serendipitous that something that had started off so tragic and painful with my accident transformed into something I couldn't have even imagined.
I didn't see anyone who looked like me working in medicine
I received amazing mentorship. But I never saw a Black female doctor until I went to graduate school in Atlanta. That lack of representation is why being a doctor didn't cross my mind as a child; it's hard to imagine yourself in a place if you haven't seen someone who looks like you there.
Today I strive to show the children in my community that their options are as wide as their imagination. I started a mentorship program through my local Boys and Girls Club to expose middle-school and high-school girls to women working in a variety of fields. Last year the girls heard from lawyers, administrators, police officers, and, of course, doctors about how they got into their field. This year we're visiting Black-owned businesses to learn about entrepreneurship and the airport to learn about aviation. My husband and my niece, who are professional opera singers, introduced the kids to classical music and showed them they can have a career in the arts as well.
Giving back to the communities we serve is so important. I'm proof that mentorship can change lives. Now it recharges my battery to pay that forward to the next generation.