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.

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. Christian earned her medical degree from

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

in 1971, where she was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

female graduate. After her degree, she completed a residency in

Family Practice Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...

at Howard University Medical Center and her Master’s in Public Health at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Career

After completing her medical education Christian returned to the Virgin Islands, working as an emergency room doctor in

Frederiksted Frederiksted is both the town and one of the two administrative districts of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a grid-planned city, designed by surveyor Jens Beckfor, originally to 14x14 blocks but built 7x7 to enhance the island commerce in ...

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

. In 1977 she was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Health for the Virgin Islands, which office she held for the following 15 years. In 1977 she also founded the Virgin Islands Medical Institute (VIMI), the Quality Improvement Organization for Medicare hospitals in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Christian became the Medical Director of the petroleum refinery

Hovensa Limetree Bay Refinery (known also as Hovensa) is an oil refinery located on the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. The refinery was a joint venture between Hess Corporation and PDVSA. For most of its operating life as HOV ...

in 1991 and was its Chief Medical Consultant until the company's closure in 2012. Christian received the

American Academy of Family Physicians The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) was founded in 1947 to promote and maintain high-quality standards for family medicine, an offshoot of the classical general practitioner. It is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. AAFP is one of ...

Humanitarian Award in 2013, served on the National Board of the

AARP AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...

, and was recognized by U.S. Virgin Islands' Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives

Donna Christian-Christensen Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, formerly Donna Christian-Green (born September 19, 1945), is an American physician and politician. She served as the 4th elected non-voting Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands's at-large district to t ...

on the floor of the

113th U.S. Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Cora United States Virgin Islands scientists American women physicians