Cal Black Alumni Speaker Series with Desmond Carson, M.D.

2400C Bancroft Way,Berkeley CA 94704

19 May, 2022

Description

Join us to learn more and discuss health disparities and public health inequities in Black and Brown communities! Dr. Desmond Carson, M.D. FACEP, is an Emergency Room Physician at Lifelong Urgent Care, San Pablo, CA. He is fiercely proud to say that he is indigenous to the community of Richmond, CA where he grew just off Carlson Boulevard near what is now the Crescent Park housing complex. He played after-school sports at Eastshore Park, since renamed Booker T. Anderson Park. Dr. Carson’s primary school education was at Portola Jr. High School and El Cerrito High School which was at that time considered Richmond Unified School District, now renamed West County Unified School District. In December 1983, Dr. Carson completed his undergraduate education at U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Biophysics. Later, he would go on to complete medical school at Medical College of Wisconsin in 1996. He completed his residency at Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital, Compton, CA in Emergency Medicine where he is board certified in Emergency Medicine. It was during his residency at Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center in Los Angeles that Carson saw firsthand the toll of grinding inner-city violence. In the 1980s and 1990s, the crack cocaine epidemic gripped the Los Angeles area, and gang violence was on the rise. Carson remembers the September 1996 night that rap star Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas. The MLK Medical Center looked like a war zone, he said. “We had 18 people shot that night, in the head, the chest, the stomach, arms and legs,” Carson said. “That was the most I’ve ever seen. It seemed like I was performing surgery on trauma victims all night.” In September 1998, Dr. Carson along with his family moved back to the Bay Area and began his medical practice at Doctor’s Medical Center, San Pablo, CA . There he excelled in clinical work which included being the Director of its Stroke Program. Dr. Carson was named a Hometown Hero, for his work saving lives in the Doctors Medical Center Emergency Room. Doctor’s Medical Center closed April 2014 which was a very sad day for Dr Carson and the community overall. Dr. Carson’s passion and commitment to serve the community he was raised in launched him to becoming the Medical Director of Lifelong Urgent Care. Today, Dr. Carson continues to be that rare physician who is totally in sync with the community he serves, trusted by generations of patients and possessing an empathy and understanding befitting his local background. On July 31, 2020, Dr. Carson was highlighted on NPR, CNN, ABC 7 and ABC 11 regarding his passionate plea to the community around the Covid 19 virus. Dr. Carson stated “he was embarrassed and a little pissed off” around Coronavirus deniers. COVID cases peaked a few weeks after that press conference, and then that peak was succeeded by a winter surge. It has been both a crucial and challenging time for Dr. Carson’s work at Lifelong Medical Care which serves a predominantly Spanish-speaking and underserved population of black and brown communities, and the care is focused on urgent care medicine, patient education and access to care for a population that might otherwise only be able to utilize the emergency room for routine care. Dr. Carson is a fierce advocate for public health in West Contra Costa County. Carson, who lives in the city where he grew up, said he isn’t immune to the emotions that come with working in an emergency room. He has served as both a Board Member and President of the West Contra Costa Health Care District for five years. Dr. Carson said that whatever emotional toll that gun violence had on the community, it continues to magnify itself through the effects of Covid19. “It’s tough,” Dr. Carson said. “I lean on my wife and my kids for support, and I have no problem getting on my knees and asking God’s help.” Dr. Carson met the love of his life, Rhonda at Cal. They have been married for 35 years and have two children, daughter Imani, Civil Engineer and son Malcolm is a 3rd Year Resident in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Carson is immensely proud of his lifelong affiliation with the Richmond Steelers Youth Cheer and Football team where serves as Treasurer. Dr. Carson says coming to work every day is an indescribable pleasure and provides him with an immense sense of purpose and he is so very proud to serve the community he was raised in.