Position: First year internal medicine resident at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis
Career Highlights:
Henderson worked directly with executive management of the organization in laboratory logistics, minority recruitment, and patient care efficiency through a health care administrative fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the summer of 2007.
As a Merck undergraduate research intern in Rahway, New Jersey in2005-2006, he cloned and characterized genes responsible for antibiotic resistance in MRSA (Staphylococcus aureus) bacterium.
In the summer of 2004, he assisted in oncology research at the University of Pittsburgh that explored inhibitory effects of interleukin-3 (A laboratory-made protein increases the number of blood cells made by the bone marrow) on cells that make bone (osteoblast cells) in patients with cancerous blood plasma cells (multiple myeloma).
He also served as a board member of the Titus Foundation, a children’s advocacy organization in Birmingham, Ala; president and co-chair of community programs for the Student National Medical Association in Birmingham; a volunteer mentor and motivational speaker for the Young Lions; and established a community health education program through local barbershops with Alabama A&M Univeristy.
Awards:
Alabama State Medical Association scholarship
UASOM Institutional Scholarship
UNCF/Merck Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Education:
Henderson is a homegrown 2001 graduate of McCluer North High School in Florissant Mo.
He earned a bachelor of science in biology from Alabama A&M University, Normal, Alabama and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, Ala.
Personal:
My mother’s maiden name is Elam and my father’s last name is Henderson. A majority of my family are from the St. Louis area. Unfortunately I never joined a fraternity because I always placed school first. I have yet to find a church community in St. Louis.
St. Louis Connection:
I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri.
Journey to success:
Many of my family members were unfortunate victims of the 1980’s crack epidemic that plagued this nation. I spent most of my life watching the harmful affects take over on them. Absorbing this my reality, around me , it seemed my that the only prospects to look forward to waswere life on the corner, going to the penitentiary, or even worst, death from homicide. At 18, I made up my mind. The only way out of the northside of St. Louis was through education.
This was a huge mental shift in my thought process. I became would be the first male in my family to both enroll in a university and graduate. With only $2,400 dollars saved up, I accepted a tuition scholarship to Alabama A&M University as a pre-mMed major. It was challenging, often working three jobs to ensure I had a decent meal to eat and a dorm room to sleep. I had a dream of becoming a physician to help and treat people. It has been my determination, resilience, and undaunting desire that hashave gotten me to this point.
In my clinical year of medical school,Fast forward eight years later I found myself extremely overwhelmed the first week on the internal medicine service. In the first week I was assisting in the management of empyema, alcohol withdrawal, and hepatic encephalopathy. Each patient seemed to have a different organ system affected, requiring me to not only be knowledgeable of a wide range of pathologies, but also utilize critical thinking skills to determine the right management and prognosis. It was the management of wide ranging diseases that initially attracted me to internal medicine. The overall experience of following patients from admission, to full treatment, and subsequently discharging the patient to their family and loved ones that has led me to truly enjoy internal medicine.
It was these experiences on the internal medicine rotation that solidified why I have chosen to enter into internal medicine.
Having the opportunity to attended medical school at a major medical teaching institute, I have learned to appreciate the role of academic clinicians and wish to one day be one. It is the opportunity to contribute to research, to teach the minds of future clinicians through teaching, and to have the time to become a leader within the community is what that draws me to academia. I seek a residency teaching program that promotes the training of enhances the opportunity to becoming an academic physician through participation in research, . Opportunities to participate in research, high volume patient load for learning, and opportunities for teaching. an environment that uphold teaching will further enhance the attributes of becoming a good academic physician.
Both background and experiences has allowed for me to contribute to patients, colleagues, and community.
Dedicating time and resources to child advocacy and . It is because of this dedication to social causes I have had the opportunity to taking on leadership positions in both grassroots and large organizations have taught me allowed me to contribute positively to all my endeavors, both educational and in the community. any organization.