Columbia Dental Faculty Member Tells His Story to Inspire a Community

George Jenkins, DMD, assistant professor of dental medicine at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, is a member of a group known as The Three Doctors, which co-authors books and gives motivational speeches. The Three Doctors recently spoke in Kalamazoo, Mich., to a packed crowd of 1,500 children, teens, and adults as part of Re2pect Your Community, an initiative funded by New York Yankee Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation.

As teenagers in inner-city Newark, N.J., the three friends who make up The Three Doctors made a pact to stick together as they worked toward becoming doctors. Dr. Jenkins believes their story can inspire disadvantaged youth and promote development in underserved communities.

The three were invited to speak in Kalamazoo by Jeter’s Leaders, a youth leadership program for high school students that promotes healthy lifestyles, academic achievement, and social change activism. This is especially important, says Dr. Jenkins:

It means the world to me and my partners that we can work in conjunction with the Jeter family, to inspire young people to reach for the stars. The Three Doctors Foundation has been a wonderful way for us to continually share our blessings and wake young people up to their possibilities. We hope to continue our work, as well as partner with like-minded organizations, to bring about a shift in the way young people approach their futures.

See the Kalamazoo coverage here.