Cora LeEthel Christian

Cora LeEthel Christian was the first native woman of the U.S. Virgin Islands to earn a medical degree, and is a medical administrator in the U.S Virgin Islands.[1]

Early life and medical training

Christian was born on Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and graduated first in her high school class.[2]

Christian earned her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1971, where she was the first African-American female graduate.[3] After her degree, she completed a residency in Family Practice at Howard University Medical Center and her Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.[1]

Career

After completing her medical education Christian returned to the Virgin Islands, working as an emergency room doctor in Frederiksted, St. Croix.[1] In 1977 she was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Health for the Virgin Islands,[4] which office she held for the following 15 years.[1] In 1977 she also founded the Virgin Islands Medical Institute (VIMI), the Quality Improvement Organization for Medicare hospitals in the U.S. Virgin Islands.[5][6]

Christian became the Medical Director of the petroleum refinery Hovensa in 1991 and was its Chief Medical Consultant until the company's closure in 2012.[1]

Christian received the American Academy of Family Physicians Humanitarian Award in 2013,[6] served on the National Board of the AARP,[7] and was recognized by U.S. Virgin Islands' Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives Donna Christian-Christensen on the floor of the 113th U.S. Congress.[1]

References
  1. Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7 (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. 2014. p. 9830.
  2. "Cora LeEthel Christian, MD '71, MPH: Physician, Advocate and Policy-Maker in Paradise" (PDF). Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin. Spring 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  3. "Thomas Jefferson University - Center City Archives & Special Collections | African American Graduates of JMC". library.jefferson.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  4. "MEDICAL SOCIETY HONORS DR. CORA CHRISTIAN". St. Thomas Source. 2003-12-27. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  5. United States Congress Senate Special Committee on Aging (1986). Quality of Care Under Medicare's Prospective Payment System: Hearings Before the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, First Session, Washington, DC. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 524–529.
  6. "Local Physician Dr. Cora L.E Christian Receives AAFP Humanitarian Award | VI Source Network". Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  7. AARP Virgin Islands (May 12, 2010). "One Person Can Make A Difference". AARP. Retrieved 2020-06-10.


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