Dr. Ebony Jade Hilton Buchholz was born the middle of three girls in the rural town of Little Africa, South Carolina. Following a family tragedy, at the tender age of 8 years old, she told her mom she wanted to be a doctor. From that day forward her mother called her “Dr. Hilton.” She attributes her entire career and the success that followed to that small gesture. She graduated from Spartanburg High School in 2000 and enrolled at the College of Charleston (CofC). In just 4 short years she graduated Magnum Cum Laude from CofC with 3 degrees: two Bachelor of Science degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Inorganic Chemistry.
Ebony then began her medical studies at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and following graduation in 2008 she continued at this institution for completion of her Anesthesiology residency and Critical Care fellowship. On July 1, 2013 she became the 1st African-American female anesthesiologist to be hired at MUSC since its opening in 1824. Throughout her studies of health disparities, particularly as it pertains to race, bridging the gap between physicians and patients has been her primary focus. In addition to pioneering medicine, Dr. Hilton is a children’s book author of the Ava Series, she is a public speaker and a community activist.
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Although some may think that anesthiology isn't as needed in this pandemic, Dr. Hilton is on the front lines. Specifically, she says that kids need to know that being sad is okay. Stressful times like these can trigger a wide range of emotions from sad to mad to confused, and emotional health is just as important as physical health.
“My colleagues and I wanted to create a resource that could inform and empower kids. We wanted to show them all the different ways they can be helpful,” says Hilton.
The result of their efforts is We’re Going to be O.K., an e-book about COVID-19 aimed at helping children in vulnerable communities stay safe, healthy and optimistic. Written by Hilton, Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb and illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin Webb, the book was one of 256 entries submitted to the Emory Global Health Institute’s COVID-19 Children’s eBook Competition, and placed among the top 5 winners.
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Hilton previously collaborated with the women on a community outreach initiative called “Stayin’ Alive,” a downloadable flyer that offers tips and information for vulnerable African American communities on preparation, prevention and symptoms of COVID-19.
“We wanted to literally put this information in the hands of citizens,” says Hilton. “Our goal was to spread the message that ‘you’re not ‘stuck at home,’ you’re ‘safe at home.’ The enemy of fear is information. Medical jargon can be intimidating and cause people to disengage. Giving people digestible information empowers them to take action.”
According to College Today, Hilton has dedicated an incredible amount of time and effort toward raising awareness about the long-standing systemic issues that put minority populations at risk.
“While the rest of the population has been fortunate enough to stay home during the pandemic, these individuals make up a large percentage of the population that are considered essential workers,” she says. “These ‘targeted populations’ are the grocery store workers, bus drivers and hospital cleaners who are forced to be in public, which places them more at risk. These individuals have the added risk of living in apartments and other high-density populations, so they have an increased risk of exposure at work and at home.”
Racial health disparities are not a new concept isolated to COVID-19, says Hilton. And neither are the protests for Black Lives Matter, which she says echo the protests of the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout history, the systematic racism of black and brown communities has deepened the vulnerability of these communities in more ways than one.
“I call it the intersectionality of pandemic and protest. What we know is that for every 2,000 black persons who were alive in January, 1 has died from COVID-19. What we also know is for black men in particular, their lifetime risk of dying during a police encounter is 1 in every 1,000,” says Hilton. “These two statistics should strike fear into any American, but they definitely give black people pause and are the reasons why many would risk exposure to COVID-19 in order to participate in a protest that says, ‘Enough is Enough’.”
Communities of color want these issues to be acknowledged, says Hilton, and to see the country work toward addressing them.
