I’m so excited about my first Melanated and Meducated interview with The Mrs. The Mommy. The M.D. Dr. Jasmine Johnson is a current Maternal and Fetal Medicine Fellow and owner of the blog www.mrsmommymd.com. I reached out to her for an interview and she took the time out of her schedule to meet with me for about an hour.
We talked about so much and here are some highlights of the interview:
The road to medical school is not straight and narrow
Dr. Jasmine Johnson has had her fair share of setbacks when it came time to apply to medical school. Her father was a physician and so she always grew up around medicine. She knew she wanted to go to medical school and there was no plan B. So imagine her surprised when she learned that she was going to have a child just as she was preparing to apply to medical school.
Her first round of applications did not go as planned. She was rejected from 15 medical schools and had to figure out her next steps. Dr. Johnson enrolled in a post-bacc program, increased her grades and scored higher on her MCAT. She then was accepted into medical school and was able to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Going to medical school is hard. Going to medical school being a mother and wife, I couldn’t even imagine. However, Dr. Johnson made it happen. However, she stresses that she didn’t do it alone. It took a village to work through the trials and tribulations of new motherhood and medical school. She and her classmates were very much “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” The system worked well for her family.
She also has a really supportive husband, who she acknowledges made things much easier than if she had to do it on her own. His job was a little more flexible and they were able to really share parenting duties. Everyone banded together and that made medical school, residency, and now fellowship possible.
Choose the right partner
Being a successful woman can be intimidating, especially being a successful Black woman. There is this idea that the more successful a woman is, the harder it will be to find a mate. This absolutely has some truth to it, but the biggest determining factor is finding the right partner. If you want to pursue your dreams, you have to make sure your partner is pushing you forward and not holding you back. As women in medicine, it can be daunting thinking about how men will react to our strides in our field.
Dr. Johnson puts those fears into perspective. She advises that you pick the right partner and be very observant about how they react towards your wins. If they show small signs of envy and jealousy at the beginning, it’s not going to bode well in the long run. You want someone that will relish in your victories and motivate you at low points.
Check out the Interview
This is just a snapshot of the interview with Dr. Jasmine Johnson. For all of the laughs, lessons, and advice, please check out the interview and subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss a notification!