Chicago's Dr. Maya Green, MD, MPH recently won a Minority Clinical Fellowship to help minorities with HIV or AIDS who lack care in their communities.
The fellowship was awarded by the HIV Medicine Association and has grants from Gilead Foundation, Genentech, and Tibotec.
"The first thing I recall was excitement," Dr. Green said about winning the fellowship. "I was shocked that I received it and I was really thankful."
Dr. Green grew up in what is formerly known as Chatam, now the Roseland community on Chicago's South Side. She went to Whitney Young High School, where she attended for three years but was let go due to her behavior and grades.
"After I saw the things in my community that were going on, it did have an effect on me where I didn't put forth a lot of effort in high school," she said. "I finished at a Christan high school called Liberty Temple. In addition to that, I had to do night school and summer school and make up for some of the things I lost in those first three years." Dr. Green went to Julian for summer school and Olive Harvey for night school for that summer.
"I didn't want to stay where I was. My life's purpose guided me to help me change my life," she said. That's another thing, if anyone is at the point where they aren't enjoying their life, I want them to know that it is possible to change. It is possible not to live their life the same way."
By the time she got to college she was focused and she knew why she was there. Although Green didn't get the best grades, she graduated cum laude from Alabama A&M, in Huntsville, with a bachelor of science in biology. After college she originally became a teacher for fourth and fifth graders for four years.
"I always wanted to be a physician. I was initially nervous about going to medical school because on the inside I didn't think I could do it," Dr. Green said. "Something inside of me didn't think I could do it, so I was nervous about that. I didn't apply."
Green described children as "extremely honest." "So all the time when I was asking them what their dreams were they would ask me the same thing. And they were like 'well if you say we could do what we want to, how come you're not doing what you what to?'" she said. "And that is what kind of sparked me to go to medical school and follow the path and I'm thankful for that."
Green received her medical degree and masters of public health degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
During medical school she worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a nursing assistant. She's also done work at Cook County, Illinois Masonic Medical Center and Great Lakes Naval Base—to name a few.
She said the favorite part of her career is the patient interaction. "You learn so much from them and through spending time with them," she said. "You learn in just sharing and helping other people to move on from wherever they are in their life, helping them get from there to the point to where they can help somebody else. That's how the world works." As much as she loves her career, there is a least favorite part which is the lack of time she has with the patients due to the healthcare system.
Dr. Green's interest in HIV/AIDS began after a very close family friend, "Uncle Bee Bop", died of AIDS in the late 1980s, during her early teens. "I remember not knowing what it exactly was," she said. "He had this thing, no one wanted to touch him, everybody was so scared to talk about it or deal with it and at the same time there was like this stigma that the community had. Some people felt strongly one way and wanted to have ideas about lifestyles and then the other part of our family gravitated to him and supported him."
According to the HIV Medicine Association, there are an estimated 50,000 new annual cases of HIV infection in this country. There are people who still don't have access to the HIV drugs they need. Some are told they are infected too late in the illness, meaning that they will not respond to treatment. Approximately half of HIV/AIDS patients in the United States who have knowledge of their illness are in need of medication and are not receiving them. More than 8,000 of the low-income and uninsured population are on waiting lists for HIV/AIDS medicine.
When asked about her goals after the fellowship, Dr. Green said she wanted to do some policy work in preventative education within Chicago's communities. "I know I want to continue to work with people who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in a capacity that not only offers medical care but can offer assistance ... . But I think a holistic approach to care [ is needed ] and it's not only medical it's healthcare overall. That holistic approach is what I hope to offer for the people in their communities on an individual level."
Dr. Green was in Miami, at Jackson Memorial Hospital at the time, when she first found out that the fellowship was hers. She didn't know how many residents were up for this achievement. "I tend not to ask that," Dr. Green said. "I just kind of go where I feel I'm supposed to go and do the things I'm supposed to do for my purpose." Dr. Green stated that other fellowships, concerning HIV/AIDS were available but wanted to do some work in her hometown.
Dr. Green mentor in her fellowship process was Dr. Kimberly Smith. The fellowship includes a $60,000 salary and fringe benefits of one year. It also pays for travel to conferences and community project funding. This particular fellowship helps minority doctors, who have finished their residency, to get experience in an HIV/AIDS environment. The program's objective is to increase the number of African-American and Latino HIV/AIDS doctors, and have more care for HIV-positive patients in minority neighborhoods.
Dr. Green has some words of wisdom for aspiring doctors: "It will never leave you. If it's your purpose it's always going to pop in the back of your mind, pursue it. If I can do it I'm sure anyone can do it. Be who you are and try not to let anything change that, unless it's for the better."
In terms of Dr. Green's greatest accomplishment, she said it was "deciding to choose my own life. The awards, the degrees are nice [ but ] being a doctor or having a master's in public health doesn't make me who I am. It enhances what my purpose is and gives me the avenue to reach people to accomplish my purpose, so I'm always going to be Maya."
For more information please go to www.hivma.org .
This story is part of the Local Reporting Initiative, supported in part by The Chicago Community Trust.
Photos by Hal Baim
