Relationships in med school pt 17 - so you think you know Rodman Singleton

An interview with the one and only, Rodman Singleton. 

Ken: Tell me 3 things about you.

Rodman: I was born in Beaufort, SC. I am very non-traditional as far as med students go. I am a veteran. 

K: How was growing up in Beaufort?

R: Although it was rural, what you see now is very different from what I grew up in. Our county was one of the fastest growing - some of the townships grew 1200% in 10 years. It's very different. We always had things to do. It's coastal so it has lots of beach access. It's part of the Gullah Geeche corridor, do you know about the Gullah Geeche corridor?

K: [embarrassed] Just what we learned in class..

R: It's a unique culture. We preserve more of our African heritage than any other African Americans in America. We have a distinct language. 

K: Do you personally retain that culture?

R: Yes definitely the cuisine. My family can speak in the dialect very fluently. Before I knew the beauty of it, I kind of rejected it. I was big on language and perfecting English. A lot of people can't even tell I'm from South Carolina. I had a kind of complex. 

K: And let's go back to the 3 things you told me, what makes you non traditional?

R: I'm old. [laughs]

K: You're not the only one that's old. 

R: There are kids, [laughs], and I say kids. Paras had a 23rd birthday the other day. Are you serious? I had a high school 10 year reunion. Two years ago. 

K: What were you doing at 23?

R: Well, I was on my fifth year in the navy. I was on my second deployment, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

K: Tell me more about that.

R: It was interesting. It was ok for a war. I wasn't on the front line, I was doing nuclear engineering. 

K: And how does that experience help you today?

R: The navy curriculum has a reputation for being difficult, we actually received a lot of college credit for it, which helped me get there. It really prepared me a lot for the stress of med school, that feeling of being overwhelmed. I had responsibility very early. 


K: So to change gears a bit, do you consider yourself a spiritual person?

R: I'm definitely spiritual but I am not religious. Spirituality to me means personal relationship with a higher power. Yahweh, Jesus, God, in general whoever values the personal relationship with the deity. I was raised as a Baptist, but around the age of fifteen when I started to read for myself, and I came into my own identity, I wouldn't say it was necessarily rejection but I strayed from the doctrines of Christianity. Much to the chagrin of my parents. I'm very spiritual, though my views don't fall in line with any mainstream religion I'm familiar with. 

K: Yeah I get that. To change gears again, what's your favorite thing about med school?

R: In a nebulous kind of way it has nothing to do with being in med school, but learning all the part of the body and how it remains healthy, I just realize how much can go wrong. I feel more blessed about my own healthy, even with my children, all these things that could go terribly wrong. And I just gained an immense appreciation for health itself. 

Actually, I have two favorite things. What med school has taught me, it's that I have a tremendous amount of confidence in myself. I had angst coming into med school. Everyone was so smart. But now being here and succeeding, it made me realize how much I was slacking before I came to med school. Had I applied my God given intelligence.. Now I just look back, and the things I thought were difficult, I look back in retrospect and they were not difficult. 

K: What else have you learned about yourself in med school? 

R: I learned that, apparently, I'm argumentative. 

K: [laughs] How did you learn that?

R: People told me. It requires some introspection because people will talk, but if you hear it enough like 5, 6, 7 times, maybe I am that way. I just think I'm misunderstood. I value truth, and knowledge. Maybe that comes off as argumentative, if it brings about truth that's fine with me. 

K: Ok, ok no arguing here. And what's your least favorite part of med school?

R: I wish I had more time for my family, especially my two children. It's hard making peace for yourself, but in the pursuit of something great you have to make sacrifices, like the times you spend with your children. I struggled with that the first six months, I felt like a geographic deadbeat. 

K: And how did you come out of that struggle?

R: My father and I have an interesting relationship, and we sort of became best friends over time. He assured me I wasn't being selfish to pursue medicine. What I'm doing here transcends myself. I had a lot of pressure when I first started med school, and a lot greater than the expectations I had for myself. Where I'm from, there aren't a lot of doctors or lawyer. It felt like a big deal when I got in to MUSC. I had numerous parties thrown for me. Whenever I go back home, everyone's asking me how I'm doing. I represent more than who I am. 

K: Tell me more about what you represent.

R: Our class has 12.5% African Americans. In a class of 170 people, we don't even make up our share of the population. I'm one of what, seven black males that make up the class? 

I remember when I was applying - thinking to myself that I wanted to do something about this, this stigma. And stigma isn't exactly the right word, but there's this perception in the black community that no one serves as an example so that you can't be the example. It's a cycle of stagnation. You don't understand the benefit of example. Everyone knew it was possible because their dads and moms are doctors, but it's not like that where I'm from. In that sense I represent something bigger than myself. 

K: That's really great. Respect. Any last things you want to share with the class?

R: We need to be more social. Literally, yesterday. I saw 6 people yesterday and I didn't even know they were in our class. That's my appeal to the class. We need to get together. 

K: preach.

see you on the other side,

from ken

want to be interviewed? get at me.