One Noxubee County Man Turns His Dream Into A Reality

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) –  Most students have big dreams and one Noxubee County High School Alum just made his come true.

Dantwan Smith knew he wanted to be a doctor when he was just 10 years old.

Now, he has his white coat and the word doctor before his name.

He wrapped up medical school earlier this year, and next month, he’s heading to Corinth to start his internal medicine residency.

Nine years ago, Dr. Dantwan Smith walked these halls at Noxubee County High School every day.

Now he’s back, walking down memory lane, remembering how he got to where he is today.

For the last 7 1/2 years, Smith has been working to become a medical doctor and says he owes it all to God, his family, and mentors.

“They helped me to get to where I’m at, made sure that I stayed accountable, made sure I stayed grounded, things of that nature, and just having that in my mind about where my grandparents came from, where my mother and father have come from, and the hard work that they’ve done in the community, in their lives, to see me get here, it’s just amazing.”

His eighteen hours of studying every day in medical school are behind him, but he has another six years of training before he is officially done.

Smith will be training in Corinth, at Magnolia Regional Health Center for the next three years and hopes to be there another three years to specialize in cardiology.

Once he’s done, he wants to practice in his home state.

“To come back home to Mississippi, as we need more healthcare physicians here, and we need more preventative care here, more education about healthcare, things like that, so all of those wrapped into a bundle made me want to come back here to Mississippi to practice.”

The new doctor finished medical school on February 28th, and made this Facebook post about his accomplishments.

It has gone viral, with over 100,000 likes and about 40,000 shares and comments.

“A lot of people in the community, Noxubee County, Columbus, places from all over Mississippi, even outside of Mississippi, as far as New York, people have congratulated me and for being an African-American male for one, and for being a person that wants to come back home to give back to his community.”

Smith’s grandmother taught Flora Nicholson when she was a child.

Years later, she would become a teacher and mentor to her former teacher’s grandson.

“She also made me be able to come out of my shell and be able to be more outspoken and even now, she is still a very, very important person in my life. Without her, I definitely would not be here today.”

As a teacher Nicholson motivated Smith, and now Nicholson says her former student motivates her.

“I knew he could do it, you know, that wouldn’t be a problem with him at all, and I knew if he said he was going to be a doctor, he was going to be a doctor.”

Smith graduated from Ross University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

He’s also WCBI videographer, Ronny Smith’s, nephew.

Categories: Local News

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