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From The Grio

When Vince Wilson, 44, was in his early 20s, he considered being a doctor, yet his own insecurities held him back.

“The bottom line is, I never thought I was smart enough,” he says.

Instead, he focused his interest on other fields in medicine, becoming an x-ray technician, an EMT, a certified nursing assistant and an Army and Air Force healthcare technician.

“I always had the impression that [only] the kids who were superior in math and science became doctors,” he says. Despite having good academic preparation, he adds that he didn’t think that his self-described “average” grades qualified.

Read more at TheGrio.com.

Since the country’s inception, black women have been working tirelessly to advance the cause of medicine and eradicate sickness and disease. From the first black nurse to the first black female neurosurgeon, African-American women have solidified their place in medical history and left a legacy of firm determination, selfless compassion, and academic excellence.

Photo courtesy of Detroit Free Press

Dr. Alexa Canady

In 1976, at age 26, Alexa Canady became the first black female neurosurgeon in the United States when she was accepted as a resident at the University of Minnesota. In 1986, after four years at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Canady became chief of the hospital’s neurosurgery department. In 1993, she received the American Women’s Medical Association President’s Award. Canady’s research in neurosurgical techniques resulted in the invention of a programmable antisiphon shunt, which is used to treat excess fluid in the brain. She shares a U.S. patent for the device with two other neurosurgeons.

From YourTango.com

To understand the health benefits of love in a relationship, it’s important to understand the meaning and definition oflove. Love has so many meanings and interpretations. Countless people in the world struggle with defining what love really means to them.

Here is Wikipedia’s definition of love:

• Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.
• Love is also a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection as well as ”the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.”
• Love may also be described as actions towards others based on compassion, or as actions towards others based on affection.
• Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

The word love itself has a variety of meanings and interpretations, making it very difficult for many to describe. The health benefits of love, however, are easy to identify and much more obvious. In this article, I would like to focus on the positive health benefits of love in a healthy, loving situation.

For the three main health benefits of love, visit YourTango.com.

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Well, that’s all folks. Michael Jackson has been dead since June 25, 2009, and after a media circus that has painted both the late singer and his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, as irresponsible and greedy folks, and a trial that didn’t get started until two years later, you can say that some form of justice has been served. Dr. Conrad Murray was just found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury that deliberated for a total of nine hours over two days.

While Murray’s lawyers tried their damndest to make it seem that Jackson was under so much pressure to perform and do well, that he took sleep sedatives on his own and administered a dose of Propofol to himself when Dr. Murray stepped out of the room, it didn’t work. The jury found that no matter who gave him the final dose or how he got it in his system, Murray was responsible because he was suppose to keep an eye on Jackson, and by leaving him alone, he caused the singer’s death. Especially since it was reported by witnesses that Murray was on the phone “parlaying” while his client stopped breathing.

Dr. Conrad Murray is now possibly looking at a maximum of four years in prison or a minimum of probation and the loss of his medical license. His license has already been suspended in California, so that seems like the probable next step. Judge Michael Pastor has decided to keep Murray in custody for the time being until sentencing.

Not sure if I feel happy or sad.

Let me rephrase that actually: I’m very happy that this over-amplified case is over, but still sad that Michael Jackson is gone. I was and will always be a huge fan of the singer, so knowing the manner in which he lost his life and the plans he had before he passed, it’s all still somewhat upsetting. However, I might be one of the few folks out there that doesn’t think Murray should go to jail for this. Blame that man for his death if you want, but in reality, blame can go around and around and around, from the folks in his family to the people that were supposed to be on his “team.” Real talk, I had no idea that MJ was addicted to drugs until he died (he covered it well), but those around him knew: his friends, some in his family. Hell, even Lisa Marie Presley admitted that his addiction ended their relationship, an addiction she became aware of in 1995. If this is true, then we can all see that folks had YEARS to intervene. But here we are, and all it took was one seriously misguided doctor to decide to take a phone call for all the blame to be transferred to him.

So yes, Dr. Conrad Murray is a mess for being greedy enough to ignore the morals of his practice to make money. However, I don’t look at him, or hear the details of the case and think he truly meant to put the icon in a coffin. He just got played into feeding Jackson’s habit, and in the end, played himself. But in all honesty, he’s not the first physician to do so for the pop star, he’s just the first one to get caught. I say strip this man of his license, give him probation, let him walk the streets with an infamous name, and leave the mess at that. He is the official scapegoat for a lot of people, but does he deserve jail? If you ask me–nope. I think losing the right to practice, knowing what he did for the rest of his life, and knowing that so many people are disgusted by him is more than enough. Maybe this will teach other people in Hollywood to start stepping up for the sake of their sick family members instead of letting them do whatever and take whatever because they don’t want to get cut off from a share of money they don’t deserve (and that’s directed at you poppa Joe, Jermaine and La Toya…).

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About This Episode

Dr. Kathie-Ann Joseph is raising health awareness and saving lives one patient at a time. Joseph’s life-long dream of becoming a doctor coupled with her unwavering work ethic have lead her to become one of New York City’s leading surgeons in fighting breast cancer. An alumna of Harvard and Columbia Universities, Joseph has positioned herself as an advocate for women. An Assistant Professor of Surgery at NYU, Joseph tells us how she shaped her career from childhood to present day. Find out why she’s the boss.

Find out why She’s The Boss.

Want More She’s The Boss? Check out these other episodes:

• Episode 1: Ericka Dotson
• Episode 2: Michelle James
• Episode 3: Meme Omogbai
• Episode 4: Monif Clarke
• Episode 5: Karine Mehu
• Episode 6: Nikima Frenche
• Episode 7: Teneshia Jackson Warner
• Episode 8: Robin Wilson

Nine years ago, at a high school basketball game, Chandra Gill claimed she was choked by a police officer; but, the cop said it was she who choked him. Whatever the story, Gill was convicted of aggravated assault, while she was studying for her masters. But she didn’t let the incident deter her from achieving her academic goals. She not only got her masters, Gill went on to earn her doctorate as well.

She’s since founded a program called “Blackademically Speaking,” where she speaks to minority children about overcoming challenges and obstacles.

“I’m there to say ‘you can do whatever you put your mind to, irrespective of what you’re going through, irrespective of what you’re born in.”

You can check out a video of Gill in action over at the Grio.

Changes in your sleep patterns, aches and pains, unexplainable bleeding or discharge may be signs that something is wrong. Follow your body’s warning signals. It is better to go to the doctor and find out that nothing is wrong than to wait and later find out that your condition could have been treated or cured had it been detected earlier.