Last Updated on July 7, 2005 by Paulette Brown-Hinds

For Two Former UCR/UCLA Biomedical Sciences Students: It’s a Matter of Opinion

San Bernardino

By Chris Levister

On June 3, 2005 Michael Nduati, M.D., M.B.A. and Sharrece Davis, M.D. celebrated a milestone. They became doctors.

“It was an awesome ride.” – fails to fully describe the adventures Michael and Shareece experienced o­n the road to becoming a doctor. Their story is o­ne of sacrifice, hard work, torrid romance, heartbreak and a determination that the thing can and shall be done.

“We both grew up wanting to become doctors,” says Shareece. But their paths from the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences to the flurry of hugs and tears at their UCLA graduation couldn’t have been more different.

Their fortuitous meeting came when, “My mentor Dr. Ernest Levister, then president of the Vines Medical Society said; ‘go find other Black students who want to become doctors’. I found Shareece,” says Michael.

As UCR classmates they shared a love for learning, a true intellectual curiosity about medicine in particular and a strong desire to help others. Together they founded the campus student group African-Americans United in Science. As members of the Biomedical Sciences Program, Michael and Sharrece were road ready for the long hours of study, stress and exhaustion required to graduate from an elite program that provides students with an opportunity to obtain an M.D. degree in seven years.

However, they were ill-prepared for revelations that o­nly o­ne other African-American had graduated from the program in its near 30 year history. Michael said, between 1994 and 1997 the university enrolled 827 students as freshmen into the program roughly 200 annually. However, o­nly 24 students per year are advanced to the medical school phase of the program. “One by o­ne highly qualified African-Americans to include a Phi Beta Kappa had been systemically dumped from the program.” Levister said.

For Michael and Shareece the revelations were a collision with reality and a fork in the road. Their friendship blossomed into a torrid romance. Michael was advanced to the medical school phase and they were engaged to be married. “It was a very stressful time. I was being pulled in so many ways. How do you study long hours, maintain a marriage in medical school, and survive an academic program that discriminates against some o­ne who looks like you?”

Meanwhile, Shareece struggled to meet the program’s rigid requirements. She would fail to make the cut. “It was a ‘mutual decision’. My teenaged sister got pregnant. I was in shock. My world was spinning out of control. I received very little support and counseling. My grades took a dive. I was convinced that I didn’t have to live in a pressure cooker environment to become a doctor.”

However, she said the thought of failure gave rise to a family motto; “If you stumble, don’t stop.”
The 4 years ahead were an agonizing time of reflection mixed with tenacity, hope and yet another twist of fate. Weeks before they were to tie the knot, Shareece called off the wedding. “We were devastated. The timing was all wrong,” recalls Michael. “Here I was poised to become the second African-American to finish the UCR/UCLA program. I was crazy in love and…bam. It rocked my world,” says Michael.

He credits his mom a veteran librarian, his dad, a PhD. finance and economics professor, his sister Robin and Dr. Levister with “pulling me out of a very big emotional pothole. They allowed me to have a momentary lapse of sanity. But they never let me lose my mine,” he said with an amused chuckle.

Fast forward; Shareece is now more determined than ever. “I knew I could become a doctor, o­ne step at a time. I had to keep climbing.” With encouragement from her sister and brother, her mom, a teacher, her mechanic father, Vines doctors and other supporters, Shareece gained admission to UCLA/King Drew School of Medicine. “Dr. Levister kept telling me not to worry. He said, ‘You’ll be fine.’ He believed in me, and that helped me get through.”

Now close friends Michael and Shareece found compassion and unity in Pamoja Tutashinda (separate or together we will win). “My father came to America from Kenya. He was a star o­n the Kenyan championship soccer team. My mom is Portuguese. They taught me to be a good person and that the test of courage is not to die but to live.”

Sharrece recalls “Michael and I were o­n different paths but arm in arm when o­ne of us needed steadying.” Michael graduated from UCLA with a joint M.B.A., M.D.  He says, “We fermented permanent change in the UCR program. We helped opened the doors for other under-represented minorities to become doctors. “We had a torch to bring home,” says Shareece. “Adversity awakens courage.”

She believes courage and compassion are the fundamental characteristics of a good doctor. “Those traits motivated me to become a physician. That fire burns ever deeper within my soul.”
Michael likens his medical school journey to a ‘life circle’.

“Every patient has a ‘life circle’ made up of people who make a difference in their lives. Sometimes a doctor’s zeal for healing gets in the way of that psycho-social wellness component. From time to time we all fall into emotional potholes. The ability to heal and care is a physician’s most powerful elixir.” He says he strongly believes in prevention rather than illness. “Natural health and fitness fuels my passion for sports. I’m no match against my dad’s mean soccer kick, but I can keep him healthy.”

Shareece breathes deeply and poses for graduation photos. “Get my best side.” she says, “Within a few days I’ll be back at the bottom of the heap.” She’ll start a 4 year residency in OBGYN at Loma Linda University.

Michael says his family medicine residency at Kaiser Medical Center in Fontana is the perfect combination of training in order to pursue his interests and passions in sports medicine.
  
For a few days Michael Nduati M.D., M.B.A. and Shareece Davis M.D. will ride elevators of elation and say yes to the naysayers. Soon they will strap themselves in for the next ride. This time armed with a priceless souvenir – wisdom.  We are a walking testimony to the notion that, “He conquers who endures. For o­nly o­n top can we see the whole view, can we see what we’ve done and what we can do, can we then have the vision to seek something new. Press o­n and follow the dream.”