Identical twins, Raven Hill, DO ’21 and Ryan Hill, DO ’21, both matched into a general
surgery residency program at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. They will train
at the Grady Health System, the fifth largest public hospital and one of the busiest
Level 1 trauma centers in the country.
Raised in South Florida, the twins earned undergraduate degrees from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, prior to attending medical school at PCOM Georgia.
Raven credits her twin sister with inspiring her to pursue a healthcare career. She recalls that as a ten year old, her family “packed into a tiny kitchen waiting to hear the news from my mom’s twin sister. She muttered only two words – brain tumor.”
“Just like that,” she said, “My brain went into hyper drive and I locked eyes with
my twin sister. The only thing I could think of was that if this could happen to my
mom’s twin, this could happen to mine.”
“Then I heard four words,” she recalled,” Surgery will fix it.” And, like the certainty of hearing thunder and knowing what is to come next, I knew from that day forward I had to become a surgeon.”
Ryan said her decision to become a doctor “was driven by values instilled in me by faith and my family. My passion for surgery began at a young age and intensified in medical school. The pure gratification of knowing you’ve helped someone improve their quality of life is indescribable,” she said.
Ryan is inspired by her mother “who taught me never to give up on my dream and to
always rise to every challenge.” Raven’s inspiration comes from her grandparents.
“My grandfather would tell me to always work smart, and my grandmother would say,
“You spend so much time in the library, you should pay rent to them!”
The twins both plan to make an impact on their community. Raven said, “With the knowledge that there are existing inequalities in health care, I have made it my goal as a future surgeon to improve elements that have a negative impact on a community’s health care. My objective is to become a general surgeon who can aid in efforts to close the gap of healthcare inequality and address and alleviate patients’ issues through well-proven surgical and medical interventions.”
Ryan hopes to make an impact on her community by inspiring other minorities to join the healthcare field. She looks forward to “providing care for surgical patients, developing my operative skills and delving into research projects.”
In addition, the twins plan to expand their Double Blessing Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization that offers scholarships for high school students who attend Title 1 schools and are considered disadvantaged, neglected, at-risk, homeless, or in rural or low-income areas.
Ryan said, “There are a lot of factors that go into being successful such as having school supplies, clothing and family financial stability. With our scholarship fund, we hope to tackle some of these issues. This is important to me because I believe it is crucial to uplift community members in need.”
She advises future medical students to “Always reach back, help others, and never lose faith!”
Raven said, “Never give up. Follow your dreams. Keep pushing forward even when it’s hard, even when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Make a schedule for your schedule. Rise even when it seems impossible!”
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