HBCU Grad Makes History As First Black Female Neurosurgeon Resident At Vanderbilt

Tamia Potter’s achievement marks the first in the university’s 148-year history.
Dr. Tamia Potter, the first Black female neurosurgeon resident at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Tamia Potter, the first Black female neurosurgeon resident at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Tamia Potter

Florida A&M University alumna Tamia Potter is now the first Black woman to become a neurosurgeon resident at Vanderbilt University — and Twitter users can’t hold back their excitement for the history-making pioneer.

The FAMU graduate shared the monumental news Friday on Twitter.

“My first job was a certified nursing assistant at 17 years old in 2014. Today, on March 17, 2023, I was blessed to be selected as the first African American female neurosurgery resident to train at [Vanderbilt University Medical Center for neurosurgery],” she wrote.

In one clip shared by Potter, the medical student is seen getting visibly emotional during a phone call, which confirmed that she’s the first Black woman to train at Vanderbilt’s neurosurgery department.

The groundbreaking news came on “National Match Day,” the third Thursday of March, where medical students across the United States are matched to a specialty and residency for training.

Twitter users quickly stepped in to praise Potter, gushing over her trailblazing achievement.

“Congratulations Dr. Tamia Potter,” one user wrote, noting how major her win is as there are only 33 Black female neurosurgeons in the United States.

Potter, who completed her bachelors in chemistry at FAMU in 2018, was also a member of the Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, according to the University’s blog, Rattler Nation.

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