MOULTRIE, Ga. — Inspired by the iconic poem of Maya Angelou, “And Still I Rise,” PCOM South Georgia’s Sistahs in Medicine and PCOM’s Office of Diversity and Community Relations recently hosted a panel of Black women experts in health care to share their stories of strength, hope and perseverance.

The speakers included Stacie Fairley, PhD, PCOM South Georgia assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, Jessica Brumfield Mitchum, DO, family medicine physician, and Karla Booker, MD, urgent care physician.

During her post-doctoral education, Fairley said that she was ready to give up. Like many students, the stress of academia became too much. Her advice to PCOM students who may be feeling similar was this: “In the midst of your struggles, don’t be robbed of your hope and your passion.”

A family medicine practitioner and PCOM Georgia alumna, Brumfield-Mitchum shared an uphill battle that all medical students face: passing boards. While she succeeded in lectures and rotations, she struggled to pass her first board exam. After failing that exam twice, she took a break from rotations to study diligently – and she passed. She encouraged the students to not let tests define them.

Booker is board-certified in OB/GYN and family medicine, but what many don’t see behind her title is the years of sacrifice and perseverance it took to receive it. Booker gave birth to her daughter at 20 years old and immediately began medical school while also being a first-time mom to a newborn. She said to attendees, “Don’t ever count yourself out. Women are the heart of the family, the heart of medicine, and the heart of society. We’re the innovators.”

Student-doctor and moderator Jasmine Render (DO ’25) said, “There have been countless times in my life when I felt my voice didn’t matter because I am a Black woman. This panel provided the chance to put a spotlight on three amazing Black women and to reinforce that their stories do matter while allowing them to impact the lives of people that look like them and people that do not.”