Louisiana man goes from hospital security guard to medical student
Russell Ledet hopes to use his story to inspire black youths "to make an impact".
www.bbc.co.uk
A former security guard has returned to the hospital where he used to work, but this time as a medical student.
Eleven years ago, Russell Ledet, 34, was a security guard at Baton Rouge General Medical Center, studying chemistry on flashcards on his shift.
Now, the ex-Navy non-commissioned officer has a PhD and is working towards a joint MD/MBA at Tulane University in his home-state of Louisiana.
"It's a dream come true," he said.
His story of full-circle success has been making headlines, about a year after he rose to national attention for organising a photo of 15 black med students in front of the former slave quarters at the Whitney Plantation, a slavery museum in Louisiana.
The photograph went viral, and since then he has co-founded a company called The 15 White Coats, whose mission is to raise money for minority medical students. They also sent poster-sized copies of the photograph to schools across the US to inspire the next generation of black doctors.
"When you go ask a black kid right now what does a doctor look like, they're going to tell you a white male. In order to change that, they got to see imagery that aligns with reality," Mr Ledet told the BBC.
