In a historic first for Johns Hopkins University and the medical field at large, the trauma and acute care surgery service at the Baltimore hospital is currently led by an entirely Black team of five residents and fellows, as reported by ABC News.
This achievement at the prestigious institution is a significant moment for a profession where Black surgeons are markedly underrepresented, making up only 5.6% of surgeons in training, despite Black individuals comprising 13.4% of the U.S. population.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Halsted service (trauma and acute care service) is currently led by Dr. Valentine S. Alia (a second-year resident), Dr. Ivy Mannoh (a third-year resident), Dr. Ifeoluwa “Ife” Shoyombo, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. (a third-year resident), Dr. Lawrence B. Brown, Ph.D., M.P.H. (a seventh-year resident), and Dr. Zachary Obinna Enumah, Ph.D., M.A. (a ninth-year and critical care fellow). Notably, Dr. Mannoh is the only woman among the five surgeons.
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Dr. Brown told ABC, “My parents are so proud. I am the first physician in my family.” To him, medicine isn’t just science, but also service. “That’s why it’s important to me. Equity has to remain at the forefront of how we deliver patient care, how we do research, how we scale programs up in our healthcare system.”
Dr. Enumah’s journey into medicine was directly inspired by his parents, who both dedicated themselves to patient care. Unlike some of his colleagues, he is not the first in his family to take the Hippocratic Oath. He shared with ABC, “Growing up in Columbus, Georgia in the 1990s, I watched my parents — my mom, a family medicine doctor, and my dad, a general surgeon — show up to serve patients everyday.”
Shoyombo encouraged those inspired by the news, stating that his favorite part of the job is the daily opportunity to “save lives and have an impact.” He continued, “To anyone who’s watching, realize that your dream and capacity can only be limited by you. And if you can think it, see it, then you can absolutely reach it.”
The hospital also commemorated the moment on social media, writing, “A historic moment for our program. For the first time in program history, our flagship Halsted service (Trauma & ACS) is led by an all-Black team of senior residents and PGY-2s.”
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“Black individuals comprise 13% of the U.S. population but only 6% of general surgeons nationwide,” the post continued. “This #BlackHistoryMonth, we recognize this milestone while continuing the work to build a more representative surgical workforce.”
To commemorate the achievement, the five residents were photographed in front of a portrait of Vivien Thomas, a pioneering figure in cardiac surgery who holds a significant place in the hospital’s history as the first Black person to wear a white coat, a milestone reached in 1941.
Despite racial barriers preventing him from receiving formal medical training at the time, Thomas pioneered techniques and tools that are still foundational to modern heart surgery. Johns Hopkins ultimately recognized his contributions, awarding him an honorary doctorate in 1976.
This history-making team doesn’t just come at a time when Black workers, especially Black women, have been increasingly pushed out of the U.S. workforce. It also comes at a time when systemic disparities persist across racial lines, yet a stronger presence of Black doctors is sure to improve healthcare outcomes for Black patients and communities of color.
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