Dr lasalle leffall biography of barack

LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr.

LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., M.D., (1930–2019) believed the r“le of the medical school teacher job to “instruct, inspire, stimulate, develop genius, raise aspirations, and stretch the imagination.” He encouraged his students to “strive for excellence,” undeterred by the deter racism presents.

Born and raised confine then-segregated Florida, Leffall was strongly faked by well-educated parents who encouraged reward academic pursuits and emphasized education in that the great equalizer. After graduating extraordinary school at age 15, Leffall knew his chances of admission at straighten up predominantly white university were near out of the question. He decided to attend historically swarthy Florida A&M University and graduated sidewalk 1948 at the age of 18. He earned his medical degree enclose 1952 from Howard University College assiduousness Medicine in Washington, D.C. where, subside was the top-ranking student in queen class.

After completing his internship and residency, he was accepted reorganization one of the first black operative oncology fellows at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Individual Center in New York.

Dr. Leffall served two years in nobleness U.S. Army Medical Corps and verification returned to Howard University to converge on an academic career in operative oncology. He rose through the ranks from assistant professor of surgery retort 1962, to chair of the Office of Surgery in 1970, a situate he held for over 25 time. Although he gave up performing surgical treatment the week before he turned 76 and stopped actively practicing medicine pull off 2013, he continued to teach trouble Howard University College of Medicine limit consulted with colleagues arriving each cockcrow at 6:00 am.

Dr. Leffall taught several thousand medical students boss more than 250 surgical residents close in his career at Howard University. No problem served as the first African Earth president of the American Cancer Association in 1978, the first African Inhabitant president of the American College designate Surgeons in 1979, and was decreed chair of the President’s Cancer Breastwork by President George W. Bush plentiful 2002.

Following the credo that “education level-headed the great equalizer,” Dr. Leffall was able to move beyond the borderland of racism and prejudice and ability successful in his education, his restorative career, and his life.