Gateway Reporter

Historically Black Colleges are a Family Tradition for Danielle

For Danielle Bouldin, the decision to attend a historically Black college or university (HBCU) was an easy one. She was following in the footsteps of some of her heroes, including her mother, who also inspired Danielle’s career in health care.

“My mother, stepmother and a host of cousins are alumni of Hampton University,” she shares. “The HBCU experience is a family tradition. I’m the hope and dream of those that came before me. Attending Hampton University had the biggest impact on the woman I am today.”

And the woman Danielle is today is our director of pharmacy at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center. This, of course, came after she earned her doctorate in pharmacy at Hampton University.

“My mom suggested that I research the profession after a friend of the family graduated from pharmacy school,” Danielle shares. “I was skeptical at first, but after researching I realized it would allow me the ability to significantly improve patient outcomes from the inside out in a variety of settings.”

Improving patient outcomes is exactly what Danielle has helped do since joining our ministry 12 years ago.

“It is a rewarding career that is the perfect blend of math, science and patient care,” she explains. “Pharmaceuticals are paramount to patients’ healing, wellness and overall outcomes. I am proud of the significant contributions we make behind the scenes. Also, less than 10 percent of the nation’s pharmacists are Black, so there continues to be opportunities for diversity.”

Danielle is hopeful her journey might inspire others.

“Attending an HBCU was the best decision of my young adult life,” she shares. “As someone who attended a predominately white high school, the HBCU experience was an immersion of culture. It was a 24/7 Black cultural experience. The activities, social service groups, sporting events and even the food were all representative of the culture.”

Danielle adds that she appreciates our ministry celebrating Black History Month and that such recognition of diversity improves the care delivered at our facilities.

“Navigating the complexities of health care demands a diverse, collaborative approach,” she explains. “Diversity in health care ensures a voice for the underrepresented.”

And Danielle is proud to be one of those voices.

“As a Black woman and millennial leader in health care, I can only hope the work I do inspires others to dream big, assume roles where they may be the only representative and dare to make a difference by stepping into rooms they feel too small to enter and fill shoes they may think are too big to fill. I can only hope the next generation of Black women can do it all 10 times better, get 10 times further, while remembering to leave the door open for more to follow.”

Original source can be found here