Many people in Currituck County don’t have a doctor.

So when local resident Michelle McPherson’s newborn daughter became deathly ill, she packed her up in the car and drove hours away for help. Once her daughter’s condition stabilized, Michelle decided to fix the doctor shortage in her North Carolina hometown.

By becoming a doctor.

Though she had no money and she wasn’t sure she was smart enough, she worked her ass off.

Despite all obstacles, this single mom of two went to med school. Since she didn’t get accepted in the US, she trained in the Caribbean. (She was married at the time she applied to school, but the pressures of med school destroyed her marriage).

She traveled by plane and overnight bus to North Carolina every other weekend during her last two years of medical school—just so she could come home to see her kids for a few precious hours—all while working outside jobs to pay for airline tickets and bus fare.

Her mother picked her up at the bus station or airport (driving hours round trip to get her).  Her mom also helped helped raise her kids while she was away, plus she helped rent out part of Michelle’s home to vacationers to help pay her mortgage. At one point, Michelle was working four part-time jobs while attending med school to pay for these trips—and to keep the bank from repossessing her home. Despite such extreme efforts, she fell further into debt.

Read more ›