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As a child he grew up in the Harlem borough of New York City.
As an adult Dr. Lonnie R. Bristow became the first African-American President of the American Medical Association.
Lonnie R. Bristow, M.D.
1930-
Growing up, Lonnie Bristow's father was a Baptist minister. His mother was an E.R. nurse at the former Sydenham Hospital. It was at this hospital where Lonnie had his first opportunity to look at the world of medicine.
Each night Lonnie would meet his mother at the end of her late shift to escort her on the four block walk back to their family apartment. As he waited for his mother to get off work, Lonnie would stand in the corner of the Emergency Room and observe the doctors.
He said, "There were physicians of almost every race. This was an opportunity to see people of color doing what seemed heroic to me, a boy of 12. To them, it was commonplace."
He said that seeing this as a kid made becoming a doctor seem to be something not extraordinary, but something within his reach. This was, in fact, very extraordinary during the 1940's, a decade before the Civil Rights Movement would begin.
After graduating from the High School of Commerce in New York City, Bristow studied at the Morehouse College in Atlanta from 1947-1949. He was on active duty in the U. S. Navy from 1949-1950 and then became a Naval Reservist from 1950-1956. Bristow entered the City College of New York and became quite famous as a quarterback on the football team and even considered becoming a professional player.
He graduated with a B.S. degree in 1953 and then entered New York University's College of Medicine and earned his M.D. in 1957.
Dr. Bristow joined the American Medical Association in California after he completed his internship in 1958. This was ten years before the AMA passed a policy prohibiting any discrimination on the basis of race.
With a relentless focus on achieving equality in health care for all, Dr. Bristow continued to break down even more barriers. In 1981 he was the first African-American to be elected president of the American Society of Internal Medicine.
Then in June 1995 Bristow made history again when he was inaugurated president of the American Medical Association. He was the first African-American to hold this position in the society's 148-year history.
Should a child who is African-American, growing up in Harlem, dare to dream of one day holding the highest position in the American Medical Association when fewer than three percent of physicians in America are African-American?
Absolutely!
There is tremendous power in our dreams when we believe with all our heart and mind that they are achievable. But believing is just the beginning. Dr. Bristow has acknowledged that hard work and education were major factors in his success.
He left the position as the AMA's president when his term expired in 1997 and returned to his full-time medical practice. Dr. Bristow practiced internal medicine in the California communities of Richmond and San Pablo for more than thirty years. Retired since 1998, Dr. Bristow continues to advocate for programs that encourage youth to consider the health professions as a career.
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