Annetta Alexander, MD, MPH

I was born to West Indian parents on a small island in the Caribbean. Growing up in the US Virgin Islands where being black is not a minority, I never let short of role models or felt that I couldn’t be whatever I wanted to be. My parents did not have much but they worked hard to give us the best they could. They couldn’t afford to pay for my college so along with getting loans I worked at my college janitorial department, at a grocery store stocking shelves and at the school library.

During my undergrad degree, my program director suggested and found a part-time job for me as a Clinical Lab Scientist. One day I expressed my desire to become a doctor to the lab supervisor where I worked but she immediately crushed my dreams and confidence by telling me “you’ll never be a doctor!”

I never realized how much that statement affected me. For many years I gave up on my dream until one day someone asked me what was one thing I wanted to do and I responded “Be a Doctor”. I was then asked, so why aren’t you?

I decided to take the unconventional path and study medicine outside the US. I went to a foreign county where I didn’t speak the language or knew anyone. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Throughout the process I experienced fears, anxiety, failures and felt like quitting many times. Now looking back at my journey, I realize that everything happened the way it was meant to be and was worth it. I know that God had a plan for my life and He has directed my path along my life journey.

Annetta Alexander, MD, MPH
Universidad Central del Este Class of 2005