April 20, 2021
Yale Pediatrics Residency Class of 2024
Growing up in Marietta, Georgia, Lauren Baron, MD, knew she wanted to become a pediatrician. It never occurred to her that she couldn’t become one after all, her pediatrician, her dentist, and her orthodontist were all Black women. Her mother made sure of that.
“She wanted me to have the opportunity to see myself in all of those faces,” Baron said. “I never once had a time where I thought this was something I couldn t do.”
By the time she was 12, Baron announced her intention to go into medicine and she received regular advice and encouragement from her pediatrician until she left for college. She began her training at Xavier University of Louisiana, went on to get her Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane, and is currently finishing her doctorate at Howard University College of Medicine. Baron is one of 20 new Pediatrics residents at Yale School of Medicine, 55% of whom come from background