Valerie Fitzhugh, MD (she/her/hers)

I'll be forever grateful to my mom for teaching me to be the kind of Mom she was. If you still have your mom (and she wasn't terrible and toxic because there are those) give her a call or a hug today. For those who don't, I understand. Happy Mother's Day! 2/2

My mother lost her battle to colon cancer 24 years ago. She was the best mom ever. She was there for everything. I miss her terribly. Before I had my own children, Mother's Day was a bitter day. Now that I have my own babies, it's bittersweet. 1/2

I'm so excited because in 20 minutes...

After spending 10 hours on the road, I made Easter eggs! The kiddos are going to be so excited! #Easter

Well done Harvard.

How to Spot and Stop a Sociopath — The Atlantic If you can recognize the special form of gaslighting that is their signature, then forewarned is forearmed.

All about figuring out who the gaslighters are in your life. IYKYK #KnowledgeIsPower

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I ended up where I needed to be. 21 years after that fateful match, I am an academic pathology chair. I found what I love and I made it work for me.

While deciding to do with my life that night, I began to think about pathology. I liked it. I understood it. And with that, I decided to scramble into pathology. I had no idea that I was making one of the best decisions of my entire life.

On Black Monday, as I remember it, I went to the computer lab to check my email. The message said, “Dear Ms. Fitzhugh, we regret to inform you…” I never read the rest. I broke into tears. It felt like my life was over. I had never failed at anything in my life but I failed to match.

I was not ok. I was told at one program that it would be hard to rank me over other Black applicants because I had good enough credentials to get into “majority programs”. I was told by another program that I should rank them high because I probably wouldn’t match anywhere else.

Interestingly enough, I did a pathology elective in my 4th year. I also got to spend time in pathology during my orthopedic oncology week (yes, I wanted to be an orthopedic oncologist). I was fascinated by the pathology, but with 18 programs ranked I figured I would be ok.

I did orthopedic research. I did orthopedic electives in my fourth year of medical school. I really should have been fine.

Now before someone jumps in with my lack of qualification, my board scores were in line with other male ortho applicants and my grades were great despite my mother dying in my second year of medical school.

I went to medical school thinking I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon. This was the early 2000s and at this time there were very few women and people of color who matched into ortho.

So you’ve probably seen a bunch of #Match posts here. What you may see a lot less of are posts from the medical students and doctors that did not match. And as such, I’m going to share my story. A story of not matching. Because things really can turn out ok. 🧵

NFL Considering 'Change' After Kendrick Lamar 'Mistake' — Athlon Sports Ahead of the Super Bowl, sports personality Skip Bayless made headlines when he alleged the NFL sent an apology letter to Lil Wayne after he wasn't selected to perform the halftime show in his native ...

I’d like to know who the @nflbluesky.bsky.social source was who didn’t “like the halftime show.” Will someone in the NFL front office admit that with their name quoted? If you’re bothered by Kendrick Lamar’s show then you’re the ones who needed to see and hear it.

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That’s nice, and I knew that. All that says is he believed in science once some time ago.

This!!!!!

I’m no lawyer but much of what I have read spells many of these executive orders to be illegal.

Reach out to your friends at the NIH, CDC, and FDA. They are not ok.

I’m surprised Bobby Kennedy isn’t in this photo…

Our children are in greater danger.

Happy Valentine’a Day to my one and only!

I hate to say this, but I absolutely thought this would happen. Me and over 70 million other people…

I am the only Black woman to be appointed as chair of 2 academic pathology departments. I am Black History.

Yes, it’s Black History Month. You can try, but you’re not going to take my history away from me. Black history IS American history.

I spit out my coffee when I read this and was relieved I was wearing a black blouse today

That is clear.

We have to submit by 1/29 so I’m grinding hard to get it done, especially since I am the contact PI!

Good luck to you as well! Hope you get a fundable score!