Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician; Author; Philanthropist
"The Stuff": Tackling life's challenges with inner fortitude
Living and Dying in Brick City
HOSA 2015 Sampson Davis Keynote
In this motivational speech, Dr. Sampson Davis speaks about growing up in one of New Jersey’s poorest cities, and his journey toward becoming an emergency medicine physician. With stories shared from his latest book, Living and Dying in Brick City, Dr. Davis explains how his city earned its nickname—Brick City. It is the grit and toughness of Newark that allows such a moniker to be born. His story is an inspiring one filled with dramatic details and anecdotes.
He also explains how these issues complicate healthy life options that are further strained by an undersupply of health care providers and facilities.
As a practicing ER physician, Dr. Sampson Davis focuses on steps needed so one doesn’t land in the ER. He speaks candidly about health issues plaguing our communities and addresses firsthand the preventative measures required to defeat diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cancer, prescription drug abuse, heart disease and much more. His speech embodies the philosophy, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Dr. Davis has chronicled these important health issues in his bookLiving and Dying in Brick City. He addresses ailments ranging from common medical issues to the most life-threatening circumstances. Here are some examples:
Success—what does it look like? How does one achieve it? Dr. Sampson Davis speaks adamantly about success. The first necessary step is to seek out like-minded friends to form a pact. When pursuing a goal, it is vital to have a team approach. This solidarity helps to drive you and keep one motivated especially during moments where you want to give up. We all need a muse. Show me a successful person and I will show you his successful circle. The pact approach is what saved Dr. Davis’ life, when he and his two friends made a promise to each other to become doctors. This oath pushed him beyond his conceivable limits. He never realized he could reach such heights but knowing he was going to be held accountable served as motivation. Simply, he didn’t want to disappoint his two friends. If we are able to form pacts across the country towards a common goal, then we can begin to achieve insurmountable success. His story of overcoming unfathomable odds is chronicled in his New York Times best seller The Pact.
As the first member in his family to attend college, Dr. Sampson Davis speaks candidly about how education saved his life. Aiming to become “the Michael Jordan of education,” Dr. Davis inspires high school, college and graduate students alike to remain steadfast in their pursuit of academics. Referencing stories from his best-selling books The Pact, The Bond and We Beat the Street, Dr. Davis will inspire all students in their pursuit of academic achievement. His blueprint toward higher education has served as a resource for community-wide reads, grammar school and high school assemblies, college first year experience lectures, college-themed talks and commencement speeches.
Through riveting personal and medical stories, Dr. Sampson Davis provides a never-before-seen look at health care in America, presenting not only the issues but also the complicated lives behind the statistics. Dr. Davis also looks at the ACA—how it may draw more doctors and nurses to return to abandoned areas of America, while technical barriers keep many patients form even signing up. Dr. Davis shares stories about the health care industry and how it personally affected his family. His father, diagnosed with prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s, turned to him to guide him through the stages of the health care system.
Dr. Sampson Davis strongly believes we all have a dream. But what happens when the dream is interrupted or comes to a halt. How does one bounce back? How does one believe it is possible to achieve the unimaginable? In this speech, Dr. Davis will inspire all to remain vigilant in the pursuit of their dreams. Giving up is not an option. Work with what you have in place and believe you can make it happen. Dr. Davis will share his obstacles and pitfalls and how he never allowed his dream to be deferred even when faced with sure defeat. He will share the struggles he faced along the way. A college professor once told him to switch majors and that he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He dealt with personal tragedies in his family, from addiction to watching his sister lose her life to a health battle. Dr. Davis remained firm in knowing he could achieve success and it was his sister’s fight for life that inspired him to keep pushing.
It this speech, Dr. Sampson Davis speaks about the importance of staying active. You must always keep moving. In life, aim to never retire; rather, switch gears into another pursuit of passion. As a teenager, Dr. Davis played high school baseball and even had visions of a professional sports career. It was the adrenaline of sports that helped his academics. The energy and excitement after exercising or taking part in sports-related activities release happy hormones from the brain known as endorphins. It is the body endorphins that helped drive Dr. Davis in his academics by allowing him to focus and push through long hours of studying. It is important to have balance in life. Playing sports and exercising is fun; not only do you gain the benefit of exercising from a healthy view point but the activity also spills over into other sectors of life. In this case, sports enabled Dr. Davis to focus more on his academics. Sports also kept him busy during tempting days of growing up on the streets of Newark. Never want a youth or an adult to sit idle.
Regardless of life circumstances, Dr. Sampson Davis believes wholeheartedly we all have something to give. Everything from paying a kind word on an elevator ride to saying good morning to a stranger, we have something to offer. This process of giving back not only impacts the person receiving the gift but also allows you, as the giver, to feel good about yourself, about life. It is vital to give back. It is one of life’s most precious gifts that often goes unused because so many of us don’t give it an opportunity. In the process of helping someone else, you may change your own life in redefining your purpose. Further, Dr. Davis believes it is important to know who you are as an individual. Believe in yourself and stand firm in defining yourself. Not everyone will embrace who you are and that is okay. We call such individuals “haters” and they are extremely successful at their job of hating. So allow haters to hate while you, as a “believer,” believes.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, one of the country’s poorest cities, Dr. Sampson Davis is a veritable success story because of his fervent commitment to medicine, but also because of his rise from almost certain failure. As the fifth born in a family of six children, he grew up in cramped living quarters, in a neighborhood surrounded by broken homes, high crime and drug use.
Undaunted by the negative influences of his childhood, Dr. Davis learned how to achieve good grades while still being socially accepted on the streets. In high school, Dr. Davis met Drs. George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt, two classmates with whom he would form a legendary pact to become doctors. The trio later found The Three Doctors Foundation, a non-profit organization in New Jersey that offers a series of free public programs focused on health, education, leadership and mentorship. Their pact has resulted in best-selling books, national recognition, the BET Awards Humanitarian Award, inspiration for millions of people, and praise from Oprah Winfrey, who called Dr. Davis “one of the premiere role models of the world.”
But Dr. Davis is not done yet.
He is now expanding his message of hope and inspiration to families and individuals by adding much-needed, practical advice for healthy living regardless of income. For many families, the US Healthcare System is often complicated. With Dr. Davis’ message, you will learn how to navigate the healthcare system and take control of you and your family’s health and wellness. Moreover, you will be empowered and motivated to do so. Dr. Davis is looking to connect with and motivate audiences across the country to make simple, smart choices and be in the best health of their lives.
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