Left to right: Drs. Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt and George Jenkins spoke Monday at Vanderbilt to medical students, community middle school students, and faculty and staff during three separate presentations. Dana Johnson
‘The Pact’ authors give inspiring talk at VUMC about overcoming obstacles, achieving goals
A decade and a half ago, three teen-age African-American boys from the streets of Newark, N.J. made a pact that they would stick together, go to college, and become doctors. Today, after overcoming many obstacles, Drs. Sampson Davis and Rameck Hunt are medical doctors and Dr. George Jenkins is a dentist, all practicing near where they grew up in New Jersey. They have written a bestselling book, The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream, that recounts their lives together and their struggles to succeed.
The three men, known as “The Three Doctors,” have formed The Three Doctors Foundation to inspire and create opportunities for inner city communities through education, mentoring and health awareness. The men, who have received the Essence Award for their accomplishments in leadership, spoke on Monday at Vanderbilt to medical students, community middle school students, and faculty and staff during three separate presentations.
Vanderbilt’s medical students in the first-year Ecology of Health Care course were assigned five chapters of The Pact prior to this week’s lecture. The students questioned the men about their foundation and their commitment to their community.
“We want to help the kids in our community understand their potential and make sure no limits are put on their dreams and who they can become,” Jenkins said. “We hope they have a much smoother transition than we did from the inner city environment to the halls of academia. It’s sad when you hear a 15 year old say ‘I’m just trying to make it.’ A cap has already been put on his dreams and what he wants to aspire to. There are tons of bright youngsters who fall into that trap.”
George C. Hill, Ph.D., associate dean for Diversity for Vanderbilt Medical School and Levi Watkins, Jr. Professor in Medical Education, said the three men had many challenges to overcome on their path to become a physician. “It was important for them to develop a strong support network and they did. They are excellent role models for anyone desiring to achieve their goals. It’s important to provide our students and the community with the opportunity to hear these three inspiring young men,” Hill said. “Young men and women who have never heard these individuals can only be inspired.”
Davis, Hunt and Jenkins don’t accept many speaking engagements because they are also full-time physicians. Davis is an attending emergency room physician and director of community outreach at The Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark. Hunt is a board-certified internist and medical director at St. Peter’s University Hospital’s How Lane Adult Family Health Center and assistant clinical professor of Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Jenkins is a faculty member of Community Health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Sampson said it was important for the friends to return to their communities, although they realize they could have earned more money elsewhere.
“The reward of giving back, is like the Master Card commercial, priceless in a lot of ways. You get to see the glow in children’s eyes when they look at you and say, ‘I can be a doctor.’ Some children don’t believe they can because they’re not exposed,” Sampson told the medical students. “We lose a lot of untapped talent and peers that could be sitting here with us (as Vanderbilt medical students) today, if only someone had been able to share a dream with them.”