By Jonathan Morales

2021年8月4日

Brandon Henry’s grandmother – a woman who had helped raised him – was lying in a hospital bed, dying of terminal cancer. But that wasn’t the only problem.

他说，医生最初误诊了她的肺炎，而且在祖母去世前后都虐待了她和她的家人。 他补充说，这种治疗对有色人种来说是一种常见的经历，也是黑人社区许多人不信任医生的主要原因。

“Before she took her last breath, I told her that I would do whatever I could to make sure that patients weren’t treated as she was, that families weren't treated as she was, and that was kind of the beginning of me saying, ‘I want to be a doctor,’” said Henry ’07 (Biological Sciences). “I’ve always felt like it was important for me to become a doctor, so that I could help do my part to rebuild that trust within the community.”

那是2001年。 Today, he’s fulfilling that promise. 在南加州的河滨医学诊所，他担任运动医学的医学主任。 He’s also a team physician for several local high school athletics programs.

He is the medical director for the Student Health Center and the Master’s in Athletic Training program at California Baptist University, and is the team physician for the university’s athletics programs.

他是Tour 4 Diversity in Medicine的导师，这是一个全国性组织，旨在增加医学、牙科、药学和其他卫生专业的多样性。 And he is also a team physician for Team 美国 men’s water polo.

Weaving through all his work is a common thread: Helping young people of color know that the health professions aren’t closed off to them.

“I’ve got to do my part to reach back,” Henry said. “I’ve got to show who I am and where I’ve come from, because I think a lot of young kids have to see that there are people in this world who look just like them and come from similar backgrounds as them and have been able to make it and make their dreams come true.”

Growing up in Diamond Bar, about halfway between Los Angeles and Riverside, Henry’s childhood was, like his adulthood, largely defined by athletics. 他妈妈尽可能地为他报名参加各种运动，部分原因是为了让他远离麻烦。 但他在球场上的技能为他打开了大门，让他成为家里第一个上大学的人，先是在附近的柑橘学院（Citrus college）当棒球运动员，然后在萨克州立大学（囊状态）当橄榄球运动员。

Henry had wanted to transfer to a college farther from home, and a friend who played on 囊状态’s football team convinced him to come to 萨克拉门托 in 2001, shortly before his grandma passed away.

他从未听说过萨克州立大学。 但他一来到校园，就爱上了做一名大黄蜂。

“It was a great experience,” Henry said. “The relationships that I formed there, the mentors that have come from there. (There were) so many great people that I came in contact with who really shaped who I am today.”

He initially enrolled as a Kinesiology major, but switched to Biological Sciences and, in part inspired by his experience at his grandmother’s hospital, realized he wanted to become a doctor. In addition, he said participating in 囊状态’s Science Educational Equity program helped him realize there was a place for people who look like him in the sciences.

“That was what kind of got me saying, ‘OK, I can actually do sciences,’” he said.

“囊状态 taught me a lot through my failures. 这让我能够成功。” ——布兰登·亨利

除了在大黄蜂橄榄球队打球外，亨利还加入了Phi Beta Sigma兄弟会，并参与了全国学生医学协会。 He credited 囊状态’s faculty and support programs, as well as the University’s Black student community, with helping him stay on the right path, especially during the two times when poor grades forced him to temporarily drop out.

“A lot of times I needed the little swift kick in the behind that said, Brandon you're playing around. If you want to achieve your goals, you've got to quit playing and make some sacrifices,” Henry said.

“囊状态 taught me a lot through my failures. 这让我能够成功。 It taught me how to grind, how to study effectively, taught me sacrifice, taught me how to be dedicated to what it was that I wanted to do.”

2007年毕业后，亨利在加州大学戴维斯分校完成了学士学位课程，并于2013年在霍华德大学获得医学学位。 不久之后，他开始与Tour 4 Diversity in Medicine合作，访问中学和高中，讲述他的故事，并帮助激励有色人种的年轻人追求医疗和健康职业。

Many of these young people, he said, believe they can’t get into medical, dental, or pharmacy school with anything less than perfect grades. His job is to explain that while good grades are important, that’s not the only thing they bring to the table.

“Who you are is what is needed in this field,” he tells them. “The background that you have is what's needed in these fields. Your life experience is what's needed these fields.”

他还帮助学生们在追求健康事业的实践方面，帮助他们写个人陈述，或者教他们一些重要的技能，比如如何面试和如何穿着得体。

Most recently, Henry spent two weeks in Montenegro as one of four team physicians for Team 美国 men’s water polo. 正在进行的新冠肺炎大流行意味着他不能和球队一起在东京，但他在家里观看并欢呼。

在他上大学20年后，他的祖母去世了，他说他在萨克州立大学遇到的人帮助他坚持完成了大学学业，成为了今天的他。

“It made me a better person and it taught me a ton about learning how to persevere through failures,” Henry said. “And, yeah, I had my failures at 囊状态 and that's a part of growing up. 这是在这个世界上成为成年人的一部分。 But I was able to persevere through failures those because of people I had around me.”