Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. might have never become a surgeon...

Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. surgeon and educator. Photo courtesy of the National Library of Medicine. [1978]

Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. might have never become a surgeon...

Early this year, I attended the memorial service for Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., one of this country’s all-time great medical educators.  Dr. Leffall was a cancer surgeon who was an inspiration to the more than 6,300 medical students, residents, and fellows he taught during his illustrious career.  Being in his presence always elicited feelings of awe and profound respect. In a tribute to his father during the service, his son, Donny, shared that his father almost didn’t become a doctor. 

 During his senior year of medical school, Dr. Leffall’s father, a high school principal in Florida, died.  Despite being at the top of his class, Dr. Leffall faced the prospect of having to leave school, if he could not come up with tuition money.

Fortunately, Dr. Leffall had befriended a wealthy patron of the country club where he bused tables in the summer and, after writing him to ask for a loan, the man responded that he would give him the funds on two conditions:

1. that Dr. Leffall would study to become the best doctor he could

2. that when he was in a position to help others in the same situation he would

Andrew Sanderson II, MD, MPH, FASGE, Board Member

Hearing this story, I was taken aback. Imagine this man, that I revered, might have never become a surgeon, never cured and helped thousands of cancer patients, never become the first African-American President of the American Cancer Society and the American College of Surgeons.  

The work of ElevateMeD Inc. is to help brilliant, dedicated medical students, like Dr. Leffall, who lack the resources to complete their educations.  I can find no better way to honor Dr. Leffall’s legacy than to assist in creating pathways to future doctors whose impact on the health and welfare of our country cannot be measured.

Join me, today, in supporting a deserving student to achieve their dream of becoming a physician.

-Andrew Sanderson II, MD, MPH, FASGE