Dr. Russell "RJ" Ledet did not realize his dream of becoming a doctor until he became a security guard at Baton Rouge General Hospital in Louisiana.
"I didn't think about being a doctor until I saw it up close and personal," Dr. Ledet said. "I thought, 'Man, this is a really cool job,' but I asked so many doctors, like can I shadow you? And so many of them were like, 'Man, you're a security guard. Like you're not about to become a doctor.' I poke fun and say they were right. I didn't just become a doctor, I became a triple board doctor. Or, I'm almost there."
Dr. Ledet grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He explained he did not meet many doctors then, especially ones that look like him.
"I grew up poor; I grew up broke," Dr. Ledet said. "I knew the importance of dreaming even early on. I think my grandmother really helped me to understand it. My momma, definitely. And my faith. For kids now, I have to understand I can't fix their home situation all the time. Obviously I'm in Riley all the time and I see kids who are in unfortunate home circumstances. I tell them dream, dream, dream, dream, don't let anybody kill your dreams. You're resilient enough to make it through what you're going through right now. But then you can start to work on your dreams when you get old enough to have a little power."
Dr. Ledet served for five years of active duty in the United States Navy before his wife convinced him to go to college. He then attended and graduated from Southern University.
"I didn't get into med school the first time," Dr. Ledet said. "So I ended up getting a PhD from the NYU School of Medicine in molecular oncology and then tried to go to medical school, and that time I got in on a full ride at Tulane University. As I was finishing up my medical school training, I decided that I really wanted to be a pediatrician and a child psychiatrist. I'm specializing in pediatrics, adult psychiatry and child and adolescence psychiatry. Right now I'm a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow which means I'm seeing a lot of kiddos and taking care of their mental health needs, and it feels good!"
On this Doctors' Day, Dr. Ledet is grateful for the recognition of physicians but is quick to express his gratitude for everyone who makes up the care teams.
"Being a doctor is a really cool job, but doctors are not successful individually," Dr. Ledet said. "They require a team of people from admin people to janitorial services to the cooking staff, we all work together. While I'm glad on National Doctors' Day we're celebrating doctors, just realize that every doctor has a team with them that's helping them be a successful clinician for that patient."
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