Dr. Susanne Tropez-Sims

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  Interviewer: Okay. We should be recording now. Well, I wanted to just start off by thanking you so much for agreeing to talk to me. I’m really looking forward to just getting to know a little bit more about you and about your — your journey as a physician. I just wanted to start off with just knowing a little bit about you know, kind of where you come from? Where are you from? And where were you born? What’s your date of birth?
   
  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Okay. All right. Well, I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana at Charity Hospital on April 13, 1949. And I’m the oldest of twins. So, I have a twin sister. And we always have this running joke because my mother was going to name us Belva and Bonita, but she was sick and was unconscious and they needed to name us. So, our aunt didn’t know that and so she named us Suzon and Susanne. And so, as we were growing up and we heard that story, we’d always say, “you would have been Belva”. And she would say that to me because neither one of us liked that name. So, we were glad we were not named that. 

  So, but growing up with a twin sister and then a younger sister who was two years younger than us, with my mom, and my dad. We had a great family life. And even being African American I — I did not realize all the things that were going on until I got to college. And so, I used to tell my parents they really sheltered us. We knew that racism existed, and we had seen a little bit of it, but most of it, they sheltered us from it. Because we owned our own house. My mom owned a car. My dad owned a car. They always took us to school, took us to piano, took us wherever we needed to go until high school. And then that’s when we started riding the bus. When the bus became where African Americans could ride the bus without discrimination. And so, we would ride the bus to high school in the French quarters and then out on the Chef Highway when they moved there. 

  Anything else? I can tell you that with my sisters, we were in brownies, Girl Scouts. We all three played the piano. We all sang. We sang in the choir. We sang at church. So, we were very active in church. I was the organist. My twin sister was the pianist and we played together at Shaw Temple United Methodist Church. And then Germ came along and when we left then Germ started playing the piano for the church. So, we were heavily involved with that in the youth group and doing all kinds of different things with the youth group.

  Interviewer: So, that kind of feeds into this next question about who or what was most influential in your youth in terms of resident, or relatives, friends, church, school?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Well, I guess just most of the adults that were involved in our lives are our parents. My grandmother was present that’s my mother’s mother, but she wasn’t as influential as my parents were. And my parents would tell us, we could do anything we wanted. Whatever we set our minds to. And I don’t know why at a young age, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. And I wanted to be a pediatrician. So, not just the doctor but a pediatrician. And my mother’s best friend had to tell her, she needed to stop me because I was practicing medicine without a license. Because I’d go to children in the neighborhood and I play with them and if one of them sneezed or coughed, I’d feel their head. Said, “you might have a 
  little fever”. And I’d take them to their mother and say, “you need to give them one baby aspirin”. And so, that’s why my mother’s friend was saying, “you have to stop that child she’s practicing medicine without a license”. 

  But I was so determined that I was going to go into medicine. People don’t know about candy stripers now, but when I was younger, you could be a candy striper. And from the time I was 12 until 18 when I went away to college, I was the candy striper on the pediatric floor. And I did more than 1,000 hours of community service in the in the hospital at Flint Goodridge in New Orleans. And I learned a lot there. And the nurses were really very good. They taught me how to do blood pressures, and how to take temperatures, and do hospital corners on the beds, and all of this stuff so you’re not — I thought I was big stuff learning this lower level of medicine, but it was going to get me where I want it to go.

  Interviewer: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that’s a great foundation. My mom was a candy striper so, I really appreciate that reference for sure. So, do you remember what it was initially that made you think about being a doctor? You said you were at a young age. Was there a family doctor, or any anyone in the neighborhood, or anybody that kind of influenced you?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: No. And I wondered if it’s because when I was younger, I did have asthma. And so — but they treated us at home, but I remember one time being in bed having trouble breathing. I was probably about six or seven then and so, I don’t — I don’t know if it was then that I just came up in my own mind that I thought that if I was a doctor, I could help other children with their breathing problems. And — but when I went away to California for the summer to visit my aunt and come back, I didn’t have problems with my asthma anymore. And so — but I still wanted to be a doctor. And I would read anything I could get my hands on about being a doctor. And I’d watch Dr. Kildare on the TV. And I’m blocking the — Robert 
  Young played a doctor. I’m blocking on what the name of the show was for him. And I used to watch all of those because I kept saying, “I’m going to do that”. And the one that was the intern. And so, those things plus being in the hospital I think were the major things that influenced me to continue on this path. So — and I just wanted to help people and I wanted them to be well.

  Interviewer: Yeah. Oh, that’s amazing. I love that. So, as we think about kind of getting through — getting through high school. What options do you think about when you finished? I mean, what can you tell me about sort of your college experience? And kind of where you went after high school on your path toward medical school?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Okay. Well, since I wanted to be a pediatrician, I didn’t deviate from that path at all. And I’ll tell you a funny story in eighth grade, I think it was seventh or eighth grade. I went to a Catholic school. And the nuns wanted us to write an essay on what we want it to be. Well, I had never looked up the how to spell a pediatrician. So, I spelled it phonetically P-D attrition. And she told me on my papers she said, “very nice essay, but if you’re going to be a pediatrician, you need to learn how to spell it”. And I said, “okay”. So, I looked it up and from that point on, I knew how to spell it. 

  But when I went to college, I knew I was going into pre-med. And being in New Orleans, all of our friends were going to Xavier. And we told my mother, my twin sister and I told my mother, we want to make new friends. We’ve been with these young ladies all our lives, we’re ready to make new friends. And so, our Brownie leader, who was also Methodist, went to Bennett College, and she told us about Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. And so, we decided that’s where we were going. we were going to Bennett College. And we applied and we got accepted. And we got scholarships, and so, that’s where we went. And so, from high school, I graduated fifth in my class? Right. Because in high school — in elementary school, I graduated third in my class. Fifth in my class for college — I mean high school. And so, I knew that that’s where I was going. 

  And I was a pre-med major. Loved my sciences, and Dr. Sales was the chair of the chemistry department. He was very influential and making sure that not just me, but the other students in my class, that we had all the foundation that we needed. And I really think that my class at Bennett, we’re in the class of 1971, and we have the highest MD, DDS, and PhDs that the school has ever had in its history. 

  And I think that that — they put a lot in the science department was really very strong at that time. Now one of the things that they did in that department as well, they made sure we took all the exams that the MCAT, the — oh, what’s the graduate — GRE. That we got to do research because I went away to University of Michigan to do research. And that was Dr. Sales and — I’m blocking on the other gentleman’s name. Wasn’t Dr. Johnson. Oh, what was his name? We were just talking about him the other day too. I’ve forgotten his name. Between the two of them I was able to get — get there to do a summer research project. And so, that was excellent. 

  And then I applied to a number of medical schools. Now, I had met my husband in college, and we were getting married when I graduated. And I asked him, I said, “I’ve been accepted to five medical schools. Where do you want to live”? UNC was one of them. Hopkins was one. Kentucky was one. Nebraska was one. And Meharry. And so, he told me, “Well, I wanna stay in North Carolina “. Because he was from North Carolina. I said, “fine. We’ll go to UNC”. Because — not realizing that UNC was a really very prestigious school. And it didn’t matter to me, but he told me he said, “well, I thought if we were getting married, you weren’t going to medical school”. And I told him, “Hold up, hold up, hold up. I’m going to medical school. Now, I can go to medical school married or I can go to medical school and not be married. That’s up to you”. So, he acquiesced. And so, he hurried up and applied to law school at NC State. And so, he went to law school, and I went to med school. So, that’s how I wound up at UNC.

  Interviewer: Yeah. Did — I didn’t even know NC State had a law school. 

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Yeah. Yeah. 

  Interviewer: Oh my gosh. Okay. Okay.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Well, not NC State, NC Central.

  Interviewer: Central. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That’s right. They still have a great law school. That’s — that’s fantastic. So, I think one of the questions just thinking about the — I love the way you made your choice. What made you apply to UNC in the first place? Close by or —

  Speaker21: No. Dr. Sales and them took us there to visit the school. And so, we had gone to visit several schools and that was one of them. But the ones that I got accepted to like Nebraska, and Kentucky, and Meharry. I had never seen them before. And I got accepted to them.

  Interviewer: Okay. So, if you were — how about answering just thinking about UNC. What kind of reputation did it have to people who mattered to you, to your peers, to your instructors? 

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Well, I think most of us didn’t know a lot about UNC at all. And — but we knew it had a good — good medical school. And I knew up front that whatever medical school I went to there were not going to be a lot of African Americans. So, I didn’t even put that as a criteria. Although I knew if I went to Meharry, they would all be African American. But none of the other schools would be, okay? And so, that was not something that I really thought of in the forefront. Like the students think a lot about it nowadays and make that conscious decision. I didn’t even think about that. And I probably should have because I’d been in an African American 
  culture only the entire time for my entire school life. And I guess that’s why it didn’t dawn on me the effects that it might have.

  Interviewer: Yeah. Well, why don’t we — why don’t you tell me a little bit about your time at UNC, just kind of broadly overall first, and then we — I definitely want to hone in on some of that for sure?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Okay. Yeah. Initially I was having a little bit of trouble with neuroscience, and — but everything else seems to be flowing okay. But I was not scoring as high as I’d like, especially if you’ve been in the top since you started school in kindergarten. This was not setting well with me. And then when I didn’t pass that section, and I scored low on several other sections in that first year. And there were only 10 African Americans in the class. Five, they just dismissed them. And five — well, I think I was the only one that they offered to repeat the year. And so, I said — I told them I’d let them know and I said — I went home, and I just cried, and cried, and cried. And then — I have a strong faith and I said — and then 
  I could just hear God’s voice telling me, “We’ve been working all these years for this. Are you going to let somebody tell you, you can’t do this”? And I dried my eyes and I said, “I am not going to do that”. So, I called the dean’s office back and said, “I will repeat the year”. 

  And then Newton — I’m blocking on his first name. He was upperclassmen, African American. And he told me he said, “if you still want to finish in — on time with your class, I can show you how to do that”. And so, he showed me how to do that. So, that I can still finish in 1975 rather than ’76. And what that meant was that when there were breaks, I took electives. And so, I went three years with no break and was able to finish the four-year curriculum. 

  Now, what delayed me was they changed the curriculum for the third year and lengthened medicine and surgery. And so, rather than being able to graduate in May, I didn’t finish up until the end of June. And — but I said, “that’s all right. That’s all right. I’m finished”. 

  And I didn’t go through the match. I applied for residency outside the match. And I applied at UNC and all my friends were telling me, “Girl, they’re not going to take you. Look at that department. You don’t see anybody that looks like you”. And I said, “well, it doesn’t hurt. If I can apply and if I don’t get accepted. I’ll apply somewhere else next year”. And — but I did get accepted. Dr. Denny did except me. And I was excited because I really did like many of the people in the department of pediatrics. I really loved Harvey Hamrick and Dr. [inaudible] [17:16]. I’m blocking on the neonatologist’s name right now. I don’t know why I can’t remember his name. And I liked Dr. Kirkland. 

  And so, they all were very good in helping me learn and the transition and to do well in the school. And I was thinking that I wouldn’t mind being chief resident, and I said, “I know they’re not gonna take me for chief resident. I’m the only one here and they’re not going to do that”. And so, when they announced that it went to somebody else, and I said, “well, I knew that”. I wasn’t disappointed, but Dr. Denny called me in and asked me if I’d be willing to join the faculty. And I said, “oh, that’s better”. This is better. 

  And so, he told me that they only take people if they’ve done a fellowship, or they have a masters. And he said, “so, we’ll pay for you to go and get your masters and you’ll be an instructor. And when you finish up then you’ll join the faculty. I said, “okay, I can do that”. And so, that’s why I wound up doing the preventive medicine fellowship, which included getting a master’s in public health. And so — and I did the community pediatric fellowship. So, I did both of those and then joined the faculty. And I was already working, “part-time” at WakeMed in the clinic, and I told him I said, “I learned my lesson, you don’t work part-time”. It says on paper part-time, but you’re really full-time. So, I said I’m full-time in school, I’m full-time in the clinic, and I’m trying to raise two children. I said, “I’m going crazy”.

  Interviewer: That’s a lot of full-times.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: It’s a lot of full time. But I enjoyed it because I learned a lot. It gave me an opportunity to really think and put in direction of where I wanted my career to go. And as a resident, I had watched a lot of adolescents come in pregnant. And I said, “these 12, 13, 14-year-old children should not be pregnant”. And so, I started planning then that when I’ve finished my residency, I was going to have a program just for adolescents. 

  Now, I should back up. Initially in the midst of trying to plan things, one of my friends, Dr. Rita Gunter, was in med school with me. And so, she and I became real close friends. And she’s a pediatrician as well. And so, we were thinking we’d go into practice together. But in Hendersonville, which was where we were going to go, most of the Caucasian physicians were very welcoming for us to come because the infant mortality rate was extremely high in that area. But the African American family medicine physician was not. And we thought that that was really unusual. He was a family medicine physician, why would he tried to sabotage things for us? And then we decided, well, if our own kind are going to sabotage us, that’s not an area we need to go into. And so, she went into public health and then Dr. Denny offered me this other option. 

  So, then I went that route. But in the master’s program, the public health, I did maternal and child health. And there, I took a planning course. And that’s when I started planning my adolescent clinic. And so, then when I finished and at WakeMed, and I was about to go full-time I asked Dave Ingram, Dr. David Ingram. I said, “do you think I can start my clinic”? And so, I described it to him, and we wanted to do it in schools, but North Carolina, having prevention, pregnancy, talking condoms and birth control in school was not going to happen.

  Interviewer: Not at that time. It’s hard enough now, isn’t it?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: That’s right. And they kept telling me, “You’re before your times”. And so, we did it in the clinic itself. And so, I carved out Wednesday afternoon so the kids could go to school, be out of school, and come to the clinic. And we did it as preventing the second pregnancy. But then as we grew, we were getting kids coming in who were not pregnant. So, we were preventing first pregnancy. But it was mostly geared to present prevent the second pregnancy. 

  And I had an OB nurse practitioner with me, the neonatal nurse practitioner with me, a social worker, psychiatry, a psychologist, and myself. And then we partnered with the health department. So, we have the nutritionist. And we partnered with DCS — I’m sorry, Department of Social Services, and the police, and the legal system. And so, we ran that clinic. And so, they referred kids to me. I referred or went and worked with DSS to help make things easier for the kids. And it was really working really well. 

  When I left UNC that was the main thing that I hated leaving because that was my baby. I had run it for seven or eight years and it was really UNC’s first adolescent clinic. And so, the residents came through and rotated through that clinic as well. So — so, that’s when I left UNC as a personal reason rather than as a UNC reason because I probably would still be there right now. If — if I wasn’t getting a divorce from my husband and needed to just get away.

  Interviewer: Yeah. No, that’s certainly understandable. I mean, it sounds like you had a really fantastic career there for sure. As you think back on your time, you were there for what was it — what was the total number of years you were there between medical school, and residency, and running the clinic?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Total? Probably 10 years.

  Interviewer: Okay. 

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Yeah. 

  Interviewer: So, in those early years, especially those years in medical school, and I know that this is — these are questions that our medical students today really, really want to want to have answers to. Thinking about times when you maybe doubted your own abilities. Did you ever question yourself or feel like you didn’t have anyone you could turn to? You talked about being one of five Black students in your class and just wondering, I guess today they use the term imposter syndrome. So, thinking about — did you — did you feel affected by those kinds of things?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: I guess because I am a person who is totally focused on what I’m trying to do. And so, I never like to try to project what I’m doing onto somebody else. That I really spent most of my time trying to do what I needed to do to get through. And I told you that one time when they told me I needed to repeat the year was the only time that I questioned whether I really should pursue this. And — but once I was determined that this is the route I am going and nobody’s going to tell me I can’t do it. Then I just went on and stuck to my guns. And — and I’ll tell you that there were incidences where people were not very nice. Like when I went to get help for the neurology section, he told me the books were in the library. 

  Interviewer: Wow.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Okay. I didn’t need to know that I knew that already. So, I didn’t — I said, “I know I’m not getting any help up here”. But other things too, like when I did my clerkship. Out of the cohort that was on the OB clerkship, I was the one that delivered the most babies. I delivered seven babies and one of them I did by myself. And — but still when they gave me my grade — I can still see it. They knew I did way better than high pass, and I should have gotten honors, but they drew an arrow straight down between high pass and honors. And that’s where they gave me my grade. And so, I said, “that’s all right. I don’t care”. Because the only thing I want all of these people to do is to teach me to be an excellent physician. 

  That’s all I want. And if you can do that, then I’m satisfied. I don’t have to graduate with honors. You don’t have to recognize me for anything. Just teach me what I need to know so I can do my job. So — so those are things that I still remember to this day still can picture it, but I didn’t let it bother me because I’d become focused on what I was trying to do.

  Interviewer: So, kind of along that vein, what is it that really kept you steady in pursuit of your degree? Like, what kept you on that path? I know you talked about your faith. Talked about your sort of, personal resolve, and resilience, and determination. Were there any — anything else any specific people or hobbies or —

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: No, because the hobbies that I had beforehand was sewing, and singing, and playing the piano. So, for med school, all those went out the door. I didn’t have time to do any of those things. And probably — probably would have been able to talk to my mother, but my mother had gotten sick and had an aneurysm. And a berry aneurysm. So, she was not somebody I could talk to because she couldn’t quite understand what I was talking about. But I would talk to my twin sister some, and my younger sister some. But most of the time I just handled it within myself. And my faith. And the only thing I did was just prayed and kept going. 

  And I tell my grandchildren now, I said in — I guess going to a Catholic school, we prayed before class, and we prayed after class. That in medical school I did the same thing. I kept that same ritual. And even when I went to clinic, I prayed before I went to clinic. If I thought I was going to have to deal with something in the nursery, or the OR, or something I prayed before I went in there. That I would make good judgment and make sure that this patient would do well. And then I would thank God at the end of the day that things went well. And — and just kept moving. 

  Now as a resident at — well, my first year as an intern, I remember one month I was on the floor, and I had about seven babies to die who all had cystic fibrosis. And I happened to make a comment to, I think his name was Dr. Dwight Powell. He was infectious disease. And I told him I said, “I don’t know why we’re doing all these things to these babies when they’re going to die anyway. We should not be sticking and doing all these things”. And so, he told me — he said, “I want you to come to my clinic Monday morning”. I said, “oh. I can’t I’m on the floor. I have to make rounds”. He said, “No. No. You have to come to my clinic on Monday morning”. And so, I went to his clinic and what he wanted me to see is that all the kids didn’t die. And so, it was worth going through the things that we were doing on the floor. So, I thanked him for that because I was getting a skewed impression of what was going on, okay? And so, he at least saw that and helped out. Because he could have just let me go and believe that these kids are going to die and don’t worry about it. So, that was good. So, there’s good stories as well.

  Interviewer: Yeah. No. Absolutely. Did you ever feel that finances were a barrier either as an undergraduate or going into medical school? I mean, we know that the debt coming out of medical school now is just growing and growing and I didn’t know how much that played into your experience?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: For undergrad, no. When the tuition went up, a little bit in undergrad for my senior year. I had to pay that back. But I mean, we’re talking $300, $500. But in those days, that was a lot of money. But for medical school, I had gotten a health professional scholarship. And then I think it was Reagan who canceled that after my second year. And so, then that’s when I started accruing debt because then I had to take loans out. And I told my daughter, my oldest daughter, when I sent her away to college, I was still paying the last year on my student loans. So, I had accumulated some, but again — in those days when I look at it in terms of how much money now, it was nowhere near how much they’re paying 

  now, but you could buy a lot more with the dollar too. Because my friend and I will talk — when I was at UNC a couple weeks ago that you could get a nickel and you could buy a drink, and two cookies, or a bag of chips, and a pickle, and a drink. And we said, “hmm, you can’t get any of that right now. It won’t even pay the taxes”.

  Interviewer: I know, right? I know things have definitely changed there. 

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Right. 

  Interviewer: So, I guess in terms of just — we’re finishing up. Kind of reflecting on your time at UNC, was there — was there one particular moment that really stands out as salient when you felt like you just came into your own? That you, as a medical professional — professional, just you were like, okay, I’ve got this. This is me.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: I think probably even in my second year as a resident because I took a gap year. My husband was in the military, and I thought he was going to be going to Germany for three years. And I said, “oh, well, we shouldn’t be separated for three years”. So, I asked for a leave of absence to come back. And then when the army changed it, it was only for six months. And so, after a year I came back. But I worked for the military that one year, because I had done the intern year and I had gotten — I passed my STEP — well, it wasn’t a STEP three. I’m blocking on the title of the test, but it was the third part. And so, I had my North Carolina license. And so having a license I could practice with the military. 

  And so, working with them and — I think really helped me to grow in my craft. And then when I got back to doing the — finishing up the residency it was like it was a piece of cake. It was just learning more techniques and things. And then even when I joined the faculty, I just felt really comfortable with being able to manage patients. And I knew that if it was something I didn’t know I had peers there that I could ask questions to. So, Dr. David Ingram, Dr. Thullen. I’m blocking — Ross Vaughn, Dr. Ross Vaughn. So, they were all there. And so, I knew I could ask them any questions and my friend Rita Gunter, I’d call her, she would call me. And we’d say we’ve got this weird kid. And we’d talk about it and give each other ideas. And so, I think during that time, I really felt comfortable with my abilities to see patients.

  Interviewer: Oh. That’s great. So, as we think about, kind of, the rest of your career where you are now where you’ve been over the past years. How does being a Black physician matter in your workplace, in your family, and in your community?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: I think it matters a lot. Because especially for my patients, they could see a Black female physician, which a lot of times they tell me I’ve never had Black physician before. And so, when I was at UNC when I was at LSU and you know, they always would say that. But at Meharry because all — not all, we aren’t all. But almost all of us are African American. And so, the kids see us and when we go into the schools, because I even went into the schools at UNC. There were three schools I went in and gave lectures to every year because I didn’t mention that I did a lot of child abuse and was one of the first three residents that UNC trained to do child abuse. 

  And so, I became one of the medical examiners, that they called them at that time, were doing the child abuse. And so, I would go into the schools to try to prevent that as well as to talk about boy or girl relationships, and what are you looking for when you’re trying to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend? And how did you make a career? And so, I think it was very influential to those kids because they now see somebody that looked like them and would make it really good for them to think, well, I can do that. If she, did it, I can do it. And so, I think that that was really important. And then when the students come through and they see you teaching them, it does the same thing. Oh, I can do this. 

  And I know even at Meharry some of the female students who — some of them went into peds. They called me that year. That class group called me, “you’re our shero.” And they said, “we gotta ask shero about this”. And so, I used to — and I’d laugh, and she’d say, “you know, that’s what we call you, don’t you”? I said, “no, I did not know that’s what you all called me. 

  Interviewer: That’s so sweet.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: But I thought it was a sweet name. Yes. And so — and it influenced a lot of them in their careers. And so, when I — my daughter’s school gave me a retirement party, December. Some of them sent messages, video messages that I have. And they were telling me the things that I had taught them, and they still remembered, and they had incorporated that into their practice. And so, I think that that speaks volumes to say how being an African American affects other African Americans to excel and to be able to do what they need to do. Now, in the church it allows them to see that I’m not uppity and think I’m all of that. That I can do menial things as well, like cleaning up, and cooking, and all those things. So, I’m just a down to earth woman who likes to just help people and to do whatever is needed and go from there.

  Interviewer: I love that. So, as you think about your experience how has that taught you ways to support present day minority students? And then, following up on that, what advice would you give to current Black medical students?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Okay. In terms of support for them, I tell them always seek a mentor, which no one had ever told me to do. But I think they really could benefit from a mentor. And you don’t have to have one mentor, you can have more than one. And it can be for different facets of your life as well. So, that’s one thing that I would tell them. And I would also tell them, don’t let anybody tell you can’t do something. It just means you have to do it in a different manner or a different route. But if that’s what you want to do, then you stick to it and you go ahead and you do it. But you have to be honest with yourself. Is that what you really want? Are you doing it for somebody else? 

  Because if it’s something you’re doing for yourself, make a difference, then you’re much more willing to stick to it. And if you’re not then you need to think about, well where can I make a difference if it’s not in medicine? What else can I do to make that difference? So, that’s what I would tell them. And I’m sorry, I forgot the last point you said.

  Interviewer: Yeah. Just thinking — we were talking about just advice for current Black students and also just thinking about ways that your experience taught you to support current students?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Right. So, now primarily what I do is I do career counseling with the first year students at Meharry. And I give money to the schools, UNC and as well as Bennett and to Meharry to help support students to be able to see their dreams come true. So, I think that those are things that are important that if you can help decrease — even if it’s not a lot of money. If you can give a little to help decrease what they have to borrow. That’s something that we can all do. And that’ll help support them. 

  Let’s see, trying to think if there’s anything else, like — my grandson was talking to me before I hopped on with you. And he was asking why aren’t more African American males in college? And I told him that’s the same thing we’re saying for med school too. And I told him many of them are too concerned about, they don’t want to go to school, they don’t want to be in school for that long of the time. But I tell the ones that make that comment to me, “you’re going to live anyway. Why not plan something that’s successful for yourself”? And they get — start thinking about what would I like to do? What can I do that I can be happy and then be a productive citizen? 

  And so, I think it’s a matter of getting them to think in that mindset instead of thinking — because some of my patients have told me, “I’m not going to see 21”. What? What are you talking about? And some have said, “oh, I doubt I’ll live to 25”. And so, we have to change that mindset. Think you’re gonna live to be 100 and let’s see what you’re gonna do over the next 80 years.

  Interviewer: Yeah. I love that. That’s great. So, my last question is just over your entire career, what have you done that has made you the proudest?

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Starting the adolescent clinic that I told you about. And then, going into education to teach others to be — I think is the other thing that I’m extremely proud about. Because I know my peers told me, “There’s nobody in that department that looks like us. Why are you going to do this”? And I told them, “Somebody’s got to do it. Why not us”? And so, I decided, why not me? And I like teaching. And so, that’s what brought me into this career. And I think it was a wise decision for me. And I think I’m really proud that I made that decision despite looking at what was around me. Because I knew that the only thing the only way to make a difference is to be on the bandwagon. You can’t be an onlooker, you have to be on the bandwagon.

  Interviewer: That’s amazing. No. I love that. I think that’s a great place to wrap up. Unless — is there anything else that you want to share? Anything you want to say that I didn’t ask.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: No. There was something you did ask, and I was gonna make a comment, but I can’t remember it. And you couldn’t remember it either, so — but that’s okay. 

  Interviewer: No. No worries. I’ll go ahead and I’ll stop the recording then.

  Dr. Tropez-Sims: Okay.

  [End of Audio] Duration: 45 minutes
  Addendum to interview: Sent via email from Dr. Tropez-Sims on May 21, 2022

  Email text: I remember your other question. It was did I ever suffer from imposter syndrome. No I didn’t. I studied hard and if I didn’t know something I told patients and students and peers. I don’t know, but let’s look it up and discuss it. I would tell student, remember you can’t know everything so don’t be ashamed to recognize it. It keeps you honest and trustworthy.

   

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About

Dr. Susanne Tropez-Sims was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1949. In her formative years, she played the piano, participated in Brownies and Girl Scouts, and was active in her Methodist Church. Dr. Tropez-Sims did very well in school and knew from an early age that she wanted to be a pediatrician. She attended Bennett College in Greensboro, NC, as a pre-med major and after her graduation, chose to attend the UNC School of Medicine. When she finished medical school, she earned a spot as a resident in UNC’s Department of Pediatrics where she became passionate about the prevention of adolescent pregnancy, and after earning a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UNC and completing her residency, she accepted a faculty appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at UNC. During her time at UNC, Dr. Tropez-Sims directed the Pediatrics Day Clinic and dedicated her time on Wednesday afternoons to working with adolescents to prevent unplanned pregnancies. After leaving UNC, she went on to hold academic appointments at Louisiana State University Medical Center and Meharry Medical College, where she pursued her passion for education and career counseling to help the next generation of physicians achieve their dreams.