"I want to do something different:" 7th grader experiences his dream profession -- a neurosurgeon!
Milwaukee 7th grader experiences his dream profession a neurosurgeon!
Milwaukee 7th grader experiences his dream profession a neurosurgeon!
MILWAUKEE -- Try to remember what you wanted to be when you were in seventh grade. A young Milwaukee boy got experience his dream profession -- one you don't hear too often -- on Tuesday, March 7th.
Seventh grader Armontae Rawls dreams of an operating room becoming his work space.
Armontae Rawls
"It sounds cool to work on people's heads, brains and save their lives," said Rawls.
The Medical College of Wisconsin got a heads up about a post featuring Rawls on the Facebook page "Humans of Milwaukee."
Armontae Rawls
"Humans of Milwaukee" founder, Mario Sinclair, is the assistant dean at Rawls' school. He decided to share the seventh grader's story on the page after asking a group of boys what they wanted to be someday.
"Because everybody else wanted to play sports and I want to do something different," said Rawls.
Rawls said he wanted to become a brain surgeon.
Armontae Rawls
"I rarely hear any young boys of color say they want to be doctors, that they want to be neurosurgeons and study science. I just think it's incredible," said Sinclair.
So do those at the Medical College. They arranged a meeting with the chairman of the Neurology Department. He was thrilled to hear the boy's story -- noting there are fewer than 3,000 board-certified neurosurgeons across the country.
Dr. Shekar Kurpad
"There's clearly a need. We probably need twice as many, if not more," said Dr. Shekar Kurpad, Chairman of Neurosurgery.
It'll be a long process for Rawls.
"The school years, 15 years," said Rawls.
Before his four years of college, four years of medical school and then a seven-year neurology program, the seventh grader got a taste of what it will take.
"Perseverance, dedication and hard work. That'll get him to be a neurosurgeon," said Kurpad.
Armontae Rawls
Armontae Rawls says his biggest dream is to one day help find a cure for Alzheimer's. It doesn't affect him personally but he says it's just sad that it makes so many people forget so much and one day, he'd like to help solve that problem.
Armontae Rawls