MEET LOCAL LEGENDS: By State

"I decided that I really wanted to make an impact in life and make sure that people remembered I existed. My illness motivated me to think about ways to prevent cancer and diagnose it early."

"Emergency medicine is a real challenge. Each patient is different; each patient comes in with problems that require a quick and accurate diagnosis. I love that challenge."

"My parents taught me to do something with my life. They got up at four in the morning to work. I always liked helping people, and medicine has given me that opportunity."

"I was determined to be a doctor. I wanted to be something that was very far from the norm for women in those days and being a doctor was about as far as you could get."

"My passion is to bring people together and help them work with each other. Throughout my career, I've tried to build programs that create opportunity for others to do good things."

"My grandfather was a country doctor and all my life I heard how 'Faddy' would treat patients right on the front porch. He never turned anyone away and, of course, they were poor and paid him in chickens and what not. So I thought of a doctor as being a service provider…"

"I decided to become a doctor after I had already begun a career as a medical technologist."