Rising Stars: Meet Tamia Potter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamia Potter.

Hi Tamia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Many of the women on both sides of my family are nurses. My mother was a nurse educator that went to different facilities, and I would go along with her and play with medical equipment and anatomy models. I then went on to do the Medical Academy at my local high school and became a certified nursing assistant. I worked full-time at night and loved the patient population that had neuropathology.

I shadowed neurosurgeons and fell in love with the field at the institution where I worked. My time at FAMU was invaluable and shaped me into the woman I am today. The University has such a social atmosphere on campus and culture. It gave me the confidence to speak to attendings, residents, and patients. Communication is critical in patient care and working in teams; however, communication with confidence is equally important, especially when speaking to patients. The matching process starts with an application submitted to programs on September 15th. The application consists of personal statements, letters of recommendation, research, board scores, and an application fee. From October to February, you interview from programs that you applied to.

Then you rank the programs that you interviewed at. Programs then rank all applicants they interviewed, and an algorithm “matches” programs to applicants. On Monday in the third week of March, applicants across the country find out if they matched or not; on the Friday of that same week, applicants then find out where they matched. I made sure my friends were available to share this moment with me, and I just told myself whatever location is in that letter is where God wants me to be! It was a surreal experience. You read about moments like these and think to yourself, what a fantastic accomplishment that is, but this time it was me. Once it set in that this was what I had accomplished, I was in disbelief.

Working and contributing to something doesn’t feel like work when you have a passion for something. Then one day, you reach a milestone that, in the beginning, you never knew was even possible. I applied to 65 programs all over the United States, emphasizing Southern programs. I chose Vanderbilt because of the way I was treated. I rotated at Vanderbilt for 30 days before applying and fell in love with the environment and culture. I loved the respect given to every team member, regardless of their role. I was treated with respect and not treated any differently, being a woman or African American.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Pursuing medicine is always a challenging journey, but it can be notably more complicated if you are a woman of color. The cost of medical education is quite expensive, and there is no one to educate you on the hidden costs such as away rotations, examination fees, and board prep when you are the first in your family to attend medical school.

When you are a pre-medical student, the topic of discussion is admission, the rest you worry about once you are in. I have had to juggle 2-3 jobs through the entirety of medical school to support myself and make sure I had the essentials for school as well as housing and food.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I feel as though this question does not apply to me yet.

I must complete residency and pass board certifications before starting my profession. As of now, I am a medical student who will begin my neurosurgery residency on July 1st.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risks are present in all of medicine, especially surgery. In the case of neurosurgery, our goal is to minimize risks to patients through excellent patient care and innovation from research.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/tamiapotter2023
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/royalxpalm47_/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PotterTamia
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/287T2RMYD3ZHZ?ref_=wl_share

Image Credits
StephonX Photography, Matt Shiffer Photography, and Darin Hall Photography