Reducing maternal mortality, promoting health equity, contributing to meaningful research, mentoring young people and becoming a global health leader. These are just some of the goals Ferouz Kidane has for the future. This July, she will be one step closer to achieving those goals when she officially begins as a medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and receives her white coat at the annual commencement ceremony.
Born and raised in Colorado, Kidane has a long history of supporting and advocating for her community. Her path to medical school was difficult, but the support of her community helped her persevere and believe in her dream of becoming a doctor.
“It almost feels surreal,” she said about being a member of the Class of 2028. “I never thought I’d get to this point. I took the plunge and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”
As a first-generation American whose parents immigrated to the United States 30 years ago to escape war in her native Eritrea, East Africa, Kidane has seen the consequences of health disparities firsthand, and she aims to inspire historically marginalized communities to show them that they, too, can achieve their goals.
“I want to inspire and empower others to believe in the message that ‘you can do it,'” she says. “I really want to make the world a more just and equitable place, and the way I achieve that is through health. Health is essential for people to achieve their dreams and become who they want to be.”
Felt Kidane, second from the left, is pictured smiling with his family.
How to choose medicine
Coming from a large family, Kidane was always the caretaker for the family from an early age and learned perseverance from his parents who worked tirelessly to support the family.
“My parents had a hard time taking time off work to take me to appointments,” she says. “This affected our access to healthcare and made me realise that health doesn’t just stop at the hospital, but has to do with many other factors, like housing, education and language. These experiences sparked my interest in medicine.”
Kidane volunteered at Swedish Medical Center when she was in high school and loved being at the hospital.
“Volunteering at Swedish Medical Center developed my passion for medicine and helped me decide that I wanted to become a doctor,” she says.
She completed her Bachelor’s in Evolutionary Anthropology from Duke University in 2018 and her Master’s in Biomedical Sciences from Regis University in 2020. The same year, she applied to medical schools but unfortunately was not accepted by any universities.
“That was a big hurdle for me. I doubted myself and thought, ‘Am I really qualified to do this?'” she says.
Those hesitations motivated her to continue honing her skills. She gained additional work experience in roles such as medical assistant, clinical research coordinator, and affiliated faculty in biology at Regis University. Her persistence paid off, as she applied to medical school again and was accepted in 2023.
“My advice to others is that it’s not about how many times you apply, but what you learn and what you bring to the table,” she says.
Feruz Kidane graduated from Duke University in 2018.
Insist on fairness
One of Kidane’s career goals is to reduce maternal mortality and address the disproportionate rates faced by women of color. It’s not just a professional mission, it’s a personal one.
When Kidane was about 9 years old, his pregnant mother was rushed to the emergency room with bleeding. By the time she arrived at the emergency room, the bleeding had stopped and the doctor decided not to do any further tests. Kidane’s mother reluctantly signed the discharge papers and started to leave, but then she started bleeding. She had a complication of placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta covers the opening of the uterus.
“I nearly lost my mother and my brother, and it was not an easy experience,” she said. “I want to make sure other families don’t have to go through that.”
Kidane is also interested in research and studies of issues that disproportionately affect underserved or marginalized communities, such as maternal and child health, diabetes and HIV.
“I want to work on health equity measures to bring about real change in our system so that we have better health outcomes for everyone, regardless of who they are or what background they come from,” she says.
Advocating for changes to unfair and unequal systems is familiar territory for Kidane, who has worked as a community organizer and in public health. She has worked as a standardized patient for the Center for Professional Excellence and is already working to improve health equity at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. The standardized patients act out different scenarios to teach learners and professionals how to improve their communication, clinical, diagnostic and testing skills.
Felt Kidane (center) smiles with Kenyan students.
Improve your health anywhere
Kidane has been passionate about global health for many years, and in 2017 she embarked on an unforgettable journey that showed her how education can empower people and create opportunities.
While studying at Duke, Kidane worked as a public health intern for a community development organization as part of a program called Duke Engage. As part of the program, Kidane and several colleagues traveled to Muhuru Bay, Kenya, where their mission was to stop the spread of HIV in remote villages that were experiencing a devastating epidemic.
“We partnered with a local girls’ high school to teach a basic sex-ed program, with the expectation that their students would then teach their middle school students,” she says. “I saw how powerful education can be, because the girls I worked with were able to have their own voice. They were able to go to their community leader at the time and say they needed sex education. I really saw them negotiating for themselves.”
As a physician, Kidane hopes to minimize health emergencies by promoting patient education and empowering them with information wherever they are in the world. But first, he has four years of medical school to attend.
“I’m really looking forward to building relationships with my fellow medical school classmates because they are future leaders. I look forward to learning from them, growing with them and building an amazing community together,” she says.
