On Feb. 16, the Paideia School’s Black Men’s club, The Collective, gathered to listen to two African-American doctors talk about their experiences both in academia and everyday life. The event, which took place in the black box, included Dr. Timilehin Oluwaseun Wusu, an orthopedic surgeon working out of Northside Hospital, and Dr. Le’Roy E. Reese, a licensed psychologist who works in both clinical and juridical environments. The event included a panel discussion that was facilitated by the leaders of the Collective. Both alumni and current Paideia students attended the event, which allowed for networking and a diverse discussion.
The event initially spawned from an idea by David Robinson Dwyer. He brought the ideas to The Collective leaders, who thought it was a great idea. Dwyer then got in touch with Justin Carr ’95 who took the responsibility of planning the event alongside Director of Alumni Relations Sadie Burbank ’08.
The event was introduced by Braylen Pendleton ’25, Mikey Stith ’25, and Reggie Moorman ’25. This was followed by a 40-minute Q&A session with Dr. Reese and Wusu who discussed topics including their experiences as black men in the healthcare field, their biggest struggles they had climbing through the ranks of their careers, as well as any words of advice they had for any of us who did want to pursue careers in healthcare. Even for people with no interest in healthcare the event was still engaging. Both men had the ability to captivate the whole room with their storytelling.
The event began with an introduction to the lives of two black men in the healthcare field. They discussed struggles of both standing out too much and fading into the background. Dr. Wusu provided important information to switch between the two when needed. Dr. Wusu played football throughout his college career at Stanford University and matriculated into Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He credits his decision to work as an orthopedic surgeon to his experiences playing football at Stanford and the NFL. For the high schoolers who wish to pursue medicine in the future, the men’s experiences served as advice for their future careers.
After the success of this event, The Collective plans to have numerous other events in the future, including a junior high student meet and greet on Mar. 20.
