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  Dr. Necochea: Good morning. Today is Tuesday, May 31st. This is Dr. Raul Necochea from the 黑料网. And I am interviewing Dr. Robert Reddick, 黑料网, class of 1974. Good morning. Dr. Reddick.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Good morning. Good morning.聽

  Dr. Necochea: It鈥檚 a pleasure to have you with us.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Welcome to San Antonio.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Welcome to Carrboro, North Carolina.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Oh, yes. Familiar grounds.聽

  Dr. Necochea: You know this place.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Oh, yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: It probably looked a little different back then.聽

  Dr. Reddick: It was a lot different. A lot have changed. I mean, Chapel Hill and Carrboro really have changed dramatically. But that whole region has changed. So, it鈥檚 quite different. I still have a daughter in Durham. And so, at least I get the opportunity of visiting her there and seeing all of the changes that have come about.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Oh. Well, as I had mentioned, this interview is 鈥� this is a project that is known as the Black Alumni Experience project sponsored by the 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Necochea: And the idea is to gather as many of our African American alumni from the 黑料网 as we can who came to 黑料网 between the 1960s and the 1970s and learned what it was like to be a medical student and a resident during that time. And to help us think through that, Dr. Reddick, we invited you to come and tell us about your experiences. And let鈥檚 begin way at the beginning with your own origin story. Can you please tell us about your place of birth and your date of birth?聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm. Well, I鈥檓 a North Carolinian. And so, I was born in Kinston, North Carolina in a little town on Highway 70. I am currently 80 years old with a birthdate of 12/25/1941. So, a few years ago.聽

  Dr. Necochea: We were just saying that Chapel Hill and Carrboro looked different back when you were there.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. They were not nearly as many buildings. And trying to get around was a lot easier than it is now. The parking was always a problem. But yes, it鈥檚 changed again in terms of where people live. You know, all of the urban renewals that has come about. It鈥檚 really changed, and it鈥檚 changed the area quite significantly.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Did you grow up in Kinston, Dr. Reddick?

  Dr. Reddick: Yes. A little 鈥� again, a little town on Highway 70, 鈥済oing to the beaches,鈥� as they say. And I grew up in North Carolina. My hometown Kinston. Attended high school. All of my pre-college training in Kinston. And that鈥檚 where things actually started.聽

  Dr. Necochea: What鈥檚 your 鈥� excuse me 鈥� what was your family like? Who was in it and what it was like growing up with them?

  Dr. Reddick: You know, growing up and growing up as an African American, there were very limited things that one basically could do. My father was a janitor. My mother was a cafeteria worker. So, the amount of money that was available for me to go to college was really not there. And I鈥檓 still trying to figure out how did I get from A to B because 鈥� you know, last night I was thinking, did I ever make an application to 黑料网? And why 黑料网? And 鈥� anyway. And that was kind of a big decision. But the details now have sort of gone away in a sense. But there was some things that happened that I know about. And so, we鈥檒l probably get to that as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Do you have any siblings?

  Dr. Reddick: Any siblings? Yeah. I have five. Two girls and 鈥� well, two girls and three guys.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Are you the first? Close to the end?聽

  Dr. Necochea: I鈥檓 the second youngest.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: So, I have a sister who鈥檚 the baby, and then me, then a brother, and then a sister, another two brothers.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Did anyone else also go into a medical career?

  Dr. Reddick: No. No. And like I said, mainly it was what kind of work you could get in the locale. The opportunities for parents in those days, were very limited.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: So, even if they wanted to go to college, you can鈥檛 really do that on a janitor鈥檚 and maid鈥檚 salary in time. And so, most of the big jobs and most of the things that my siblings had included military, school support, if you will. And one brother who鈥檚 a minister in Kinston.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Hmm. When you were growing up, can you tell us a little about the influential people in your life? Relatives or friends or church leaders?

  Dr. Reddick: In terms of outside of the family, at high school, I had an afternoon job that gave me a little monies to do things. And it was kind of interesting because we had a couple of very large clothing stores, etc. And there was also a clothing manufacturing company over there in Kinston, no longer, obviously, there. And it gave us the opportunity of getting some support, if available. But it actually turned out that my afternoon job after school was one in which I worked as a janitor type in one of the clothing stores downtown.聽

  It was kind of 鈥� I think that was really the fortunate thing because what it did, the guy who owned the clothing store 鈥� you know what he said? He said to me, 鈥淚f you keep making good grades like this, then I鈥檒l help you to go to college.鈥� And that worked out really nice. So, there were a lot of influences from that. That was the most significant one in terms of support to do that job. Again, how did I get from Kinston to Chapel Hill was something that I鈥檓 still wondering. I鈥檓 trying to work on. Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: When you were young, did you have a family doctor or did you know any doctors?

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. There were two Black doctors in Kinston and one dentist. Yeah. One dentist. And yeah, I knew them because those were the only doctors mainly that we could go to for things.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. You mentioned 鈥撀�

  Dr. Reddick: So 鈥撀�

  Dr. Necochea: Go ahead.聽

  Dr. Reddick: There were some other people who also went to 黑料网, not in the medical school, but primarily, again, lawyers. They really got the training at Historically Black Universities, and then got their law degrees at 黑料网. So, they were some other 鈥� the role models that you know. But mainly it was kind of like not an everyday acquaintance but a necessary core for treatment and medical kinds of things. And yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: You mentioned a moment ago that in your afternoon job at that factory that the owner spoke about going to college. Was that something that you were really keen on?

  Dr. Reddick: I was kinda surprised that he would do that and that kind of thing. And yeah, it was a great opportunity. And it did surprise me for giving me this information such that I could then plan on doing some things that I didn鈥檛.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Can you tell us a little bit about 鈥� I mean, how did a Black kid from Kinston right there go to college?

  Dr. Reddick: Well, we had some really good high school teachers. And that was one of the things that really propelled us to do things. I remember my English teacher, she was a very big dynamic force in terms of getting kids to, really, not only talk better, but take advantage of opportunities like going to college, if you will. Well, honestly everybody couldn鈥檛 go to college. But the military was another avenue of approach. And as they say, the great migration north for African Americans to the big cities was another set of things in the way that people went about doing their business.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Where did you apply when you were in high school and getting ready to go to college?

  Dr. Reddick: I only applied to 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Only to 黑料网?

  Dr. Reddick: Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Wow.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Well, you know, thinking about it, one of the things that 鈥� it was 黑料网 or military. So, which one did you want to take? And it was the college student one. We had lots in my high school class. We had 100 graduating members. And I would say that maybe a third of those would go on to college. And pretty much all in HBC鈥檚.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Where did you go, by the way, to college?

  Dr. Reddick: At 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Sorry. Of course. You went to 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: All right. At 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Uh huh.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Tell us a little bit about that college experience for you.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Well, it was really kind of interesting in a sense that 鈥� now I look back on it and say wow, this is a real accomplishment. The summer after graduation actually I did go to 黑料网. And I did take some courses. The interview of the administrative staff 鈥� and I鈥檝e forgotten the person鈥檚 name 鈥� said, 鈥淕osh, you will never graduate from this institution.鈥� And that was a common sentiment. There were people that the administrative staff at 黑料网 and the people who were responsible for the admission and admission discussions sort of made you feel like, wow, this is not me.聽

  It should be an open opportunity. And the fact of the matter is, is that African Americans also supported this institution via state dollars and things like that. And so, you know, it was quite an ordeal. And so, that鈥檚 what happened. So, I鈥檓 not sure what happened to him. But I got my degree. I got the master鈥檚 degree. I got the MD degree. And then pathology training. And so, as a resident.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Nice. When you were here at 黑料网 鈥� oh. First let me go back one moment. What year did you begin in 黑料网 as an undergraduate?

  Dr. Reddick: 1960 as a matter of record. And I sort of had 鈥� well, 1960. The summer after that, going to college. There was one White faculty member who would kind of push me along for 鈥� you know, making it obvious that, yeah, you can do the work. But there was also one faculty member that I had that 鈥� and I remember this distinctly is that we had an examination. And this, again, was one of the English classes. And I submitted my paper to him. And I got it back with no marks on it. Not even a grade on it.聽

  And so, not everything was rosy from there. And so, consequently, yeah, you had to fight those kind of things. And they were the stable faculty members that were here at Chapel Hill. So, there were lots of things that were really deplorable.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: I was actually 鈥� been drafted from my hometown. And so, I spent two years in the military. Those two years were also during the Vietnam era. And that made it really much more serious in terms of, where do you go after you get into the military? Fortunately, I spent the two years at the Walter Reed Medical Center Institute of Dental Research. And that kind of surprised me as well. Because I had started off with no degree, getting drafted, and then getting back to that kind of position. But they were okay. I was looking at a degree in chemistry. And that鈥檚 what they were looking for. And so, it was nice.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Huh. The institution where you spent your years as a military draftee, where was it?

  Dr. Reddick: In Bethesda, Maryland.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Got it.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: And do you remember what year was it that you were drafted?

  Dr. Reddick: I guess it鈥檇 be kind of peculiar. I would say it was between 1962 and 1964. It was probably not the exact numbers because some of the things that I鈥檝e sort of forgot. And didn鈥檛 really wanna think about it, especially after I got a position doing something that actually propelled me on towards the research career.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Neat. Of course. But it also means that you were drafted while you were studying your college career.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Huh.聽

  Dr. Reddick: The friends and neighbors, that鈥檚 the life you knew to represent us.

  Dr. Necochea: How did you feel about that?聽

  Dr. Reddick: Not very good because I was actually doing fairly well. You know, some drawbacks and things like that. Some opportunities. But not as really present as they were for other students. But it was, again, but also at that same time, had some other African American 鈥� actually in the medical school 鈥� individuals. And we all were housed in separate dormitory. And so, we got an opportunity to do some things. The dormitory setting was not exactly good for us because there were always these pranks that were sort of played.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. It鈥檚 interesting. So, you were in 黑料网 mingling with other college students. And then you have this opportunity 鈥� well, let鈥檚 call it an opportunity for now 鈥� in Bethesda where you get to meet people who are more in, I guess, chemistry and research track, who were also military, and some of whom are African American as well.

  Dr. Reddick: You know, I don鈥檛 recall having another 鈥� well, in the military draft sessions, there were African Americans, obviously, in that part. But once they got to Bethesda, I couldn鈥檛 see African Americans as members of the Walter Reed Medical Complex Dental Research Center.聽聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Okay. All right. By that time, you had already declared that chemistry was going to be your major?

  Dr. Reddick: Right. Right.聽聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Had you already considered that you wanted to study medicine?

  Dr. Reddick: No. No. Not at all. It really didn鈥檛 strike me to have that as a goal. What happened is that when I was an undergrad, obviously I needed money to pay the bills and things like that. And so, I got a job in the Department of Pathology doing some glassware washing and all of those kinda things. So, it really was kinda to give me some monies to eat, etc. The reason of why I really thought about medicine seriously is that my mentor 鈥� who was a faculty member in the Department of Pathology 鈥� had taken interest in what I was basically doing. And it was kinda like the guy in Kinston who said, 鈥淚f you do well, I鈥檒l help you to finish.鈥� And yeah, he helped really to get me on the medical track and the research track as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Huh.聽

  Dr. Reddick: It was another one of those opportunities that gets here.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. When you finished your time as a draftee, did you go back to 黑料网 right away?

  Dr. Reddick: Yes. Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Because 鈥� yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: When you started 鈥� when you took up your studies once again 鈥� were you already thinking, now I would like to think about medicine as a thing for me?

  Dr. Reddick: Well, as part of those thoughts were the surroundings. And the surroundings really made me think about medicine. And I was never thinking about pathology because the people and the dean鈥檚 office 鈥� well, the dean of the undergraduate campus 鈥� they always said, 鈥淲ow, you wanna go to be where the dead people are.鈥� Which is what people say about pathology. But things worked out from that. No autopsies or anything until after the medical degree and getting into a residency, kind of. And faculty [inaudible].聽

  Dr. Necochea: Were there any enrichment programs for perspective medical students, like the MED program that we have now for example? Did they already exist?

  Dr. Reddick: No, the MED programs 鈥� and I participated in those and enjoyed it. I think it was really great. And so, yeah, it sort of came up as a separate entity when that was integrated into the institution as an educational program.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: It was a lot of fun. I mean, the kids came and I taught them interesting pathology. I鈥檒l put it that way.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And we had two students who really did well. Went off to medical school and graduated.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. You mentioned to me that you had this job in this laboratory that helped you pay the bills. Was that the only support you had to pay for your college education?

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. That was where the person from Kinston came through as well. But also I had the military dollars there.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Ooh.聽

  Dr. Reddick: So, it was kind of a combined thing.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Huh. Okay. I understand now. And now moving a little bit closer in time, what year did you graduate from 黑料网?

  Dr. Reddick: 鈥�69.聽

  Dr. Necochea: 鈥�69. And when you were thinking about applying to 黑料网, what reputation did the 黑料网 have?

  Dr. Reddick: You know, I had not thought about that at all. And not knowing that there were other Black students who had been there. And 鈥� well, actually there鈥檚 another thing as well. My high school classmate, the two of us went to 黑料网 as undergraduates. And so, there was another Kinston person there along with me, along with undergrads who were in law school.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Huh. What was his name?

  Dr. Reddick: Kellis Parker.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Dennis Parker?

  Dr. Reddick: Right. Kellis.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Got it.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: One thing that other folks I have interviewed have told me is that they heard about the 黑料网, that they would maybe take one Black person per year and no more.聽

  Dr. Reddick: We had 11 Black students in my class in medical school. Yeah. It was sort of an equal number of males and females. So, it was really kind of the beginning of a change in terms of people getting into the programs and getting into medical school.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. Yeah. Quite a change.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Were you interested in attending or applying to other medical schools?

  Dr. Reddick: No. I鈥檓 Tar Heel bred and Tar Heel born. So, everything had to do with having some kind of relationship with 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Necochea: That鈥檚 very bold.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. You know, it was amazing that I was able to get through some of these things, you know? Having said, 鈥淥kay, where you gonna go to college?鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. I鈥檒l go to 黑料网,鈥� or something like that. But yeah, it worked out.聽

  Dr. Necochea: You mentioned 鈥撀�

  Dr. Reddick: And with the people who supported my educational process, they were very much a part of my growth and development, if you will. And it doesn鈥檛 take but one person to have a good opportunity if you have a mentor and someone who really believes in what you can do.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. You mentioned this mentor in chemistry for example who was helping you think about the possibility and the rewards of a career in medicine.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. Actually, that was the person in pathology 鈥�

  Dr. Necochea: Ooh.聽

  Dr. Reddick: 鈥� who was my mentor. Yeah. Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Huh. So, was he a physician too?

  Dr. Reddick: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. He was a faculty member in the School of Medicine.聽

  Dr. Necochea: When you got in do you remember what the process was like? Did you have to have an interview for example?

  Dr. Reddick: Yes, you had to have all of those kind of things. And take the examinations and all of those things to get into the school.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Oh, wow. So, the grades, the MCAT, the interview.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. Right.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Wow. What do you 鈥�?聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes?

  Dr. Necochea: Do you remember anything about the interview?

  Dr. Reddick: I don鈥檛 remember anything that was mentioned about that. But essentially there were faculty members who were on the interview panels. And so, consequently, yeah, we all had to go through those things.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Your class was also interesting because it was one of the first in which there was a non-negligible number of African American students.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Necochea: I imagine you were not aware of that at the time because you were a student in the thick of it.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. Yeah. You know, like I said, it was 11 African American students in my class. And I think there were two 鈥� if I remember correctly 鈥� who did not make the grade, if you will. Even though 鈥� I don鈥檛 know 鈥� they had the grades and things like that out of high school and undergraduate school. And it still was surprising that we had that many of us there in the medical program.聽

  Dr. Necochea: The first couple of years 鈥� the pre-clinical 鈥� are famously tough with all the studying that one has to do. Do you remember how you managed that?聽 聽

  Dr. Reddick: With lots of studying, lots of determination. And there was also another thing that sort of propels beyond the [inaudible] [0:33:55] as well. One of the faculty members who was there, oh, said, 鈥淵ou guys are stupid,鈥� you know. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really know anything in the school.鈥� But how can you say that when there are successes? But it was really kind of a very detrimental comment that he made.聽

  But if you look at the School of Medicine and you look at the pictures of faculty members and things, there was not an African American person there, including residents and other faculty members. There was only one faculty member who was there at the medical school for a long time. And then you鈥檝e got some other African American students as part of the group, if you will.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And that sort of made it a lot better. A lot better. They respected the comments like I just said.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Huh. I was going to ask you about things like that. Things that make students feel unwelcome or they don鈥檛 belong.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I can鈥檛 say that everybody was the same. But I can say that there were some people who were very interested of the welfare of us being there at school. But always 鈥� in those years 鈥� have people who are not going to welcome African American students at all.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Part of that 鈥�

  Dr. Reddick: You know. That 鈥撀�

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: I think it鈥檚 interesting to hear about comments and attitudes of faculty members that make students doubt their own abilities, even though they have what it takes to get in. It鈥檚 鈥�

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: 鈥� important what you鈥檙e saying here because to me this question that I just asked you is one that the students themselves in the present who wanted to ask because it is something that they too have faced.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes. Right. Right. And when I was a faculty member at 黑料网, one of the things that I tried to do not only with the MED program but also including 鈥� have people who work in my laboratory for some time as well. And that was kind of exciting because when you look at the students who were going into practice in a specialty, not many people go into pathology. Even though pathology is 鈥� it encompasses the whole of medicine.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. Yeah. On the flipside, who were you closest to? Who did you like the most, including students and faculty, administrators?

  Dr. Reddick: Well, that鈥檚 a hard one because I liked all of those who were helpful in terms of 鈥�

  Dr. Necochea: Fair enough.聽

  Dr. Reddick: 鈥� getting things done. And there were some other faculty members in the Department of Pathology who were really instrumental in terms of saying, 鈥淥kay, we鈥檙e going to get you on our resident possibility listing. But first I want you to go to the [inaudible] Cancer Institute and spend some time there.鈥� And that was, again, another one of these Caucasian faculty members who really was extremely helpful in terms of getting there. So, that鈥檚 how I got to the second time in Bethesda.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: The first time as a and the next time as an intern.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Uh huh. I wanna get to that part too. And before I do that, the other part of your training in medical school is going to involve these various rotations through different services.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Uh huh.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Were you mainly in Chapel Hill for that?聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. Mainly for all of the studying and things like that. I didn鈥檛 go away to do rotations or things like that.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: There was enough good possibilities in 黑料网 Chapel Hill. But I didn鈥檛 have to go there for other studies.聽

  Dr. Necochea: If you think about the overall package of medical school with its challenges and the diversity of experiences that one gathers along the way, it鈥檚 difficult work, right?

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: What kinds of things kept you steady in pursuit of your goal? People, friends, hobbies?

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. Well, I was married then. And so, that was another thing that was extremely important during that time. And she was very helpful in terms of things. But had her own studies. And she had graduated from the pharmacy school. And they just put out, oh, a plaquette that gave information about the first two Black students who had stayed in the School of Pharmacy. And that was good.聽

  Dr. Necochea: And she was there?

  Dr. Reddick: Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Cool.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Right. Right.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Wow.聽

  Dr. Reddick: So, there was an impetus for me to do well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: This is quite something. You know, part of the joy of interviewing folks who did this in the 1960鈥檚 and 1970鈥檚 is that you get to meet a lot of people who did things for the first time.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. Yes. It鈥檚 a fact.聽

  Dr. Necochea: It鈥檚 really important for the students to hear these stories.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Uh huh. Oh, yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Reddick: But I had a lot of fun working with the high schoolers and other people who rotated through as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Do you have anything that stands out from your time doing rotations?

  Dr. Reddick: I got to do an awful lot of things there as I was on the surgical rotation. And the faculty and residents and interns were very open in terms of helping to do things. Now that鈥檚 not saying that all of them were like that. But the vast majority of them were. If you get any support from a couple of people in those areas, it really makes a difference. And it also gives you some time to talk with the people about possibilities and how do you think it would be if I were to go and do this rotation or to do other things. So, it was communication between not only the students themselves but also communication between students and interested faculty members.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And residents as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Hmm. Oh. And before I forget, Dr. Reddick, how did you finance your medical studies?

  Dr. Reddick: It was pretty much the same kind of thing. Actually in medical school for the first two years I did have to do some part-time work. So, it was another way of doing that in addition to the military dollars that came in. And so, I would guess essentially it was the way that it was.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: But again it worked out in terms of that.聽

  Dr. Necochea: And now moving on through your years as a resident, can you tell us, how is it that you got drawn to pathology?

  Dr. Reddick: Again, the job that I had too was in the pathology department. And I had never worked in pathology and what it was all about. But again, with the help of that faculty 鈥� that a faculty mentor was extremely important in terms of getting me to think about things. And so, I had projects that he had given me. And that was another start for things getting interested in research.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And I was in the Department of Pathology and there were some very nationally/internationally known people in the area of blood coagulation with the 鈥�

  Dr. Necochea: Sorry. In the area of what?

  Dr. Reddick: Blood coagulation. Hemophilia. And the other bleeding disorders that 鈥� and I was about. And got to do a lot of things in that regard as well. Both, oh, from taking patients, to doing assays, etc., for defining those people and making it work.聽

  Dr. Necochea: You鈥檝e mentioned, now, this pathology mentor three times. Can you tell us his name?

  Dr. Reddick: Hmm?

  Dr. Necochea: Can you tell us the name of your pathology mentor?

  Dr. Reddick: Dr. George Penick.聽

  Dr. Necochea: George Penick. Oh, yes, I know his name.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: And you鈥檝e also mentioned that you were interested in research.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mainly because that鈥檚 the influence of a very accomplished investigator as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And it made you. The other person that I was very interested in and provided a lot of things was Dr. Kenneth Brinkhous, really the Brinkhous influence.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yes.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And he was very influential in terms of getting me to think about research there. It was just amazing 鈥� the opportunity 鈥� when I鈥檓 thinking about it. The opportunities that would come up and find me, so to speak.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. Exactly. So, both of them and others were instrumental in drawing you into the field of pathology. Walk me through your process of applying to residency.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Again, it was kind of the same thing. You made an application. It was reviewed by the selection committee at the site that you wanted to go into. And it was 鈥� well, pretty much, again, the same kind of information you had to provide for that selection process. And you also had an interview there as well. So, it wasn鈥檛 just staying at home and sending papers. It was also putting you there, you know.

  Dr. Necochea: And this time for your residency applications, did you apply anywhere besides 黑料网?

  Dr. Reddick: No. I had made a positive entrance into the workings of that department as an undergraduate and as a medical student. And so, it was something that was very good.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. You must鈥檝e made yourself known as a really competent and collegial person in that department to make this such a sensible move for your part.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes. Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Well, you know, if you do well, do your work, and be able to explain what you鈥檙e doing to individuals who, perhaps, were not in the same area as you, it actually worked out. People tend to respect you if you respect them. Sometimes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Right. Don鈥檛 take it for granted is the lesson. Do you remember how many other residents came in your cohort at 黑料网?

  Dr. Reddick: You mean in pathology or throughout the school? I was the only one.聽

  Dr. Necochea: In pathology you were the only one.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Well, I was the only African American. There were 鈥� how many 鈥� 20/25 residents there in the program from year 1 through year 4. But I was the only African American resident in pathology. Internal residence in pathology.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yes.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Oh, 鈥�73/鈥�74. 鈥�73, I actually graduated.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Oh.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Because I went to school during 鈥� I don鈥檛 know 鈥� the summer rotations and taking those rotations was part of the requirement. So, I actually graduated in 鈥�73 rather than 鈥�74.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Ooh, okay.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And that worked out. As I was going through those processes of being the resident and being a faculty member, I also was able to convince some of the resident selection committee to look at other African Americans and help to make it a lot more equitable in terms of things. But nobody was interested in pathology, so.

  Dr. Necochea: Right. Yes. So, were you the first pathology resident at 黑料网 who was African American?

  Dr. Reddick: Yes. Yes.聽

  Dr. Necochea: This project, as I told you, has put me face to face with a lot of pioneers in their fields.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. First resident. First faculty member. And the first 鈥� there was a 鈥� well, it wasn鈥檛 really a fellowship. It was more like a named professorship. And so, I was the first Brinkhous fellowship person as well. And that was part of the other 鈥� well, big way of doing things and taking advantage of the opportunities that way for your benefit.聽

  Dr. Necochea: You did mention that, as part of your intern year, you went to D.C. again though.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Right. Right. It was a four-year residency. And so, you could do the program at other institutions if that鈥檚 what you wanted to do. But sending or my going to the National Institutes of Health -National Cancer Institute, that was really a way of learning about other possibilities. And so, I think it worked out really well.

  Dr. Necochea: Hmm. And then you came back here to 黑料网 鈥�

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: 鈥� to complete that residency in four years. Do you remember if there was a special moment when you felt that you came into your own as a medical professional?

  Dr. Reddick: It really kinda takes us some time to develop a presence in the research area if you want to be a successful person. And so, what you do is 鈥� there was a Yugoslavian guy that had come over to work in our laboratory. And he had this saying, 鈥淸inaudible] [0:54:23],鈥� which meant, 鈥渟lowly, slowly you get things done.鈥� And that was a real good saying. And it made you think about the possibilities.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: You can鈥檛 go from A to B without first off going through C and D. And so 鈥撀�

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah. Right. When you finished that residency, you mentioned that you stayed on as a fellow.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Okay. And then you moved on to become a faculty member at 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Right. Right.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Wow. You didn鈥檛 leave.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Well, no, I did. You know. Chapel Hill and the thing about it is that once you go to Chapel Hill, you never want to leave. And that鈥檚 why there were so many people who graduated from 黑料网 on the faculty as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: But it was one of those things that was undergraduate school, graduate school, graduate school in either master鈥檚 or PhD, and the MD, and then residents, and they had faculty members. So, there was a lot of steps to achieve to go through there.聽

  Dr. Necochea: When you 鈥� I just almost dropped something here.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Oh.聽

  Dr. Necochea: How long did you stay at 黑料网?

  Dr. Reddick: 19 years.聽

  Dr. Necochea: 19 years. Wow.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Well, in the medical scene as a faculty member.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And then I came here to San Antonio and stayed here about 21 years as a chair of pathology.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Ooh, my goodness. So, that鈥檚 鈥� well, that鈥檚 an important and interesting major transition.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yes. Yes. But the mentors, again, were very helpful in terms of building around me to exercise some of the programs and exercise some of the parts of the program by me being responsible for certain areas. And that, over time, using that administrative experience. But at the same time it also gives you the opportunity to grow in your career in research.聽

  Dr. Necochea: You know, you鈥檝e spent a long, long time at 黑料网.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Uh huh.聽

  Dr. Necochea: And over that long period of being in this single institution and seeing some things change and some things not change, what have you learned about the best ways in which we can better support our present-day minority students? What can we do better?

  Dr. Reddick: You have to have the administration to show that this is a good pick. And if you begin to get inroads into the faculty who are very interested and instrumental in terms of taking people and having them on their rotations or having them in their research laboratory or having them do administrative things. I mean, all of those things, you鈥檒l have to do. But one of the other things is that we as African Americans should not be afraid of saying, 鈥淚 want to succeed in this program. Will you help me do that?鈥�

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: And I think often times students will get anxious and not really want to say those kind of things to people. But the other students do that.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: You know? And so, why should we not? We should be able to do that as well.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Reddick: So, again, it鈥檚 another communication kind of thing. There are opportunities. There are people developing or working in programs that are really amazing. And we have the MED program. And we have the opportunity of other faculty members coming into that program and providing some of those kinds of things. But I鈥檓 not sure what the scope of things are now. But essentially those are the kind of things that help to do that.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Do that thing and, you know, get students thinking about medicine.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Now as a last question, if you look at the whole span of your career, Dr. Reddick, of what are you proudest?

  Dr. Reddick: All of it.聽

  Dr. Necochea: All right.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Proud that I was able to do these things and continue to get into a position where I am now. But really having the opportunity of working with very interesting people. Very knowledgeable people about areas. In the MED program there were, oh, you know, again, faculty members who were also part of that. And I think it all goes back to the very first person who supported me in really getting into that, providing some monies to go to college at 黑料网 and make it. And that was that person who, again, provided money. If that had never happened, I would not have been here. Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah.聽

  Dr. Necochea: Dr. Reddick, are you gonna come back to Chapel Hill?

  Dr. Reddick: Yeah. I鈥檓 gonna come back and I鈥檓 going to visit my daughter in Durham. And so, yeah. Yeah. I鈥檒l be back.聽

  Dr. Necochea: All right.聽

  Dr. Reddick:Tar heel born and tar heel bred.

  Dr. Necochea: Thank you, Dr. Reddick.聽

  Dr. Reddick: Oh, thank you, Raul.聽

  Dr. Necochea:I鈥檓 going to end this recording now.

  [End of Audio]

  Duration: 63 minutes 聽 聽 聽 聽聽
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About

Dr. Robert Reddick was born and raised in Kinston, NC in 1941. He had several inspiring teachers growing up and, while working as a janitor at a clothing store in Kinston, his employer offered to pay his way through college if he kept on making good grades. While most of his high school classmates attended HBCUs, he applied only (and was accepted) to 黑料网 in 1960. There, he encountered both supportive faculty and administrators, but also some who mistreated him. After two years, he was drafted by the military, which resulted in his spending two years at the Walter Reed Medical Center, where his interest in biomedical research was kindled. Back at 黑料网, he pursued this interest while working at the Department of Pathology. Upon graduation, he applied immediately to the 黑料网, where he was admitted. As a student and lab researcher, he had the chance to see more African American students, including high-schoolers, rotate through his lab, and he tried to encourage them to get involved in research. Upon graduation, he became the first Black pathology resident at 黑料网, and then the first Black faculty member in pathology. After nearly 20 years at 黑料网, he departed to take on the position of Chair of Pathology at the U. of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.