The Power of Representation: Dr. Derrick Burgess

derrick burgess: [00:00:00] to be able to see excellence to the degree that it was present across the board, I mean, no longer was I the token smart kid. I was not even the smart. Um, so that was eye-opening and I was able to see people from all walks of life, um, from all different social economic backgrounds, from outside of the United States, from the Caribbean, from Africa, you know, and to be able to see excellence across the board was eye-opening and it helped.

with identity, as you mentioned, it's okay to be smart as you want to and not be ridiculed. 

So the. Of building black doctors was very prominent and it was okay to be smart, and that was one of the first times that I really was able to identify with that.

You're listening to belonging in the south, a guide for misfits. And I'm your host, Rebecca Lauderdale. I'm a lifelong southerner with the [00:01:00] fascination, for people who have learned to be their truest selves, even when that doesn't fit the Southern jello mold. My mission with this podcast is to help southerners of all kinds to find belonging and community without having to change who they truly are. 

This week, I'm sharing with you a conversation with my colleague, Dr. Derrick Burgess. Who is an orthopedic surgeon raised in muscle Shoals, Alabama. And now lives right down the road from me and Mississippi. When he was growing up, his family placed a high value on being of service to the community, especially his grandfather who was a contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. 

And an important part of the civil rights movement in Alabama. This and his experience in college and medical school at historically black universities. I've given him a fascinating perspective on what it's like to be a person of color who breaks stereotypes. One thing I noticed and that I encourage you to listen for in Dr. Burgess is story. 

Is his commitment to pass along the [00:02:00] encouragement and support that he was given by his family and mentors. To others. Not just his own family, but to a growing group of people starting with young high school athletes. Then college athletes. And now through his podcast, timeout with the sports doctor. 

To physicians, business people, entrepreneurs. And expanding circle of people who are affected by his generosity of spirit, his encouragement and his hard work. I hope you'll enjoy this interview as much as I did. 

rebecca lauderdale: so you were, were you born in Muscle SHOs? Is that where you lived to your childhood?

derrick burgess: yeah. So born and raised in Mossel Shells, Alabama. Yep.

rebecca lauderdale: Mm-hmm. So, Your first podcast episode, your first interview that you did was with your grandfather. Um, and he, um, he told the story of how he grew up on a plantation and the effect that that had on his family. Your family, [00:03:00] um, what it was like to not be able to own property, to basically, Be living in indentured servitude until he was older and then kind of got out and got a job, um, out in the community that wasn't farming.

Um, and how he got involved in civil rights activism and, um, went on to earn like a college degree in his sixties. Did you have an awareness of that history in your family when you were young? 

derrick burgess: my grandfather, was a pastor. Um, he was always involved in the community. You know, he was famous for delivering turkeys for Christmas. Um, he would always be involved with, um, NAACP as well as, uh, the Dr. Martin Luther King Scholarship Foundation.

And so that's something that we were always aware of and every, um, just speaking from a civil rights standpoint, my grandfather is five to six months older than Dr. Martin Luther King. So they are literally from the same era, and he spent a lot of time. Not necessarily [00:04:00] face-to-face with them, but in the same circles and doing the same work.

And that's something that we were always aware of. And on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, we would always have go to the commemorative marches or rallies, um, even as children. So we were always aware of the work that he's done and that inspired us as well.

rebecca lauderdale: So did that affect what you thought about what you personally could be and do that might have been different than other families?

derrick burgess: I will say yes, um, in a sense of he would always emphasize education, even though as you learn from his story, that he wasn't able to go far into his formal education as a child. But like you mentioned as an adult, because of the emphasis placed on education, he still went back and got his G E D and then went back and got his ministerial license.

So education was always important and as a child, he would incentivize us. When we get report cards, it may only be, you know, a dollar or whatever, but it was big time to us and we knew that we could always. [00:05:00] Count on my grandfather to when we got a good report card, you go to him and you could get payment for that, you know?

So he always emphasized, and my parents as well, they emphasized education, which is always key.

rebecca lauderdale: Were there places growing up where you had to hide that? Where you had to pull back?

derrick burgess: Yeah, so I would say sometimes. Being, especially being smart is not always the popular thing to do, um, especially as a teenager. Um, but I think I had a good balance because I played sports, so it wasn't always that I had to hide being smart, even though it was only a small circle. of athletes that were in the honors classes or whatever, especially minority athletes in the, um, in the honor classes.

But it was okay because I was an athlete because sometimes you could get singled out is if you were too smart or you think you're somebody or you think you are, whatever. Um, and so that it is a fine line that you have to walk, especially in that middle school, high school [00:06:00] era. Um, especially being in a high school where we were the minor.

rebecca lauderdale: So, uh, we talked about this earlier, but you know, my mission with this podcast is to kind of focus on the ways that southerners, because there are very particular things about being in the south, the history of the South and the culture of the South. People who feel like in one way or other, feel like they don't belong. How belonging can affect our ability to see ourselves clearly. And if we feel like we don't belong in a certain place or with a certain group of people, it can really limit us. So, um, one of those things I think is so helpful for people in those situations is to hear the stories of others who have learned to have the courage to be who they are and how did that happen?

So along those lines, How, how did your family, because I'm, I'm hearing that your [00:07:00] family was a place you You could be who you really were. Um, were there certain ways that they, um, that they reinforced other than just kind of reinforcing education, but were there ways that they showed you that you belonged?

derrick burgess: Yeah. Um, so one thing is family support. So my father, who, another person who didn't have outside of high school education, didn't have formal education, but he was. Present and always a hard worker. And one of the main ways that I think was spending time, he coached our teams, um, as far as to make sure that we had a fair shot.

He would coach our teams, not because he was really big into sports, but he wanted us to have a fair chance of having the best of everything. So he would coach our teams, he would be present. My parents would always try to travel. With us anytime that we would go on school outings or field trips or you know, field day, whatever it may be, little things, but they will always try to be present.

So we would know that they cared for us as a family,[00:08:00] 

rebecca lauderdale: Hmm. So when you, um, you graduated from high school and you went to college, um, at Xavier University,

derrick burgess: correct?

rebecca lauderdale: New Orleans. So,

derrick burgess: the big, easy.

rebecca lauderdale: Did you, did you know that you wanted to be a surgeon?

derrick burgess: At that point I did at that point. Some, I would say probably about freshman to sophomore year of high school, I decided that I wanted to but become an orthopedic surgeon. Um, I had the opportunity from an injury in high school to be able to shadow an orthopedic surgeon, uh, Dr. John Young, which was opened up.

That opportunity was opened up because my family, p. started us into a mentorship, a mentorship program. There were a couple of guys in my class, um, that wanted to go into medicine, so he would bring us to his office. After hours, we would sit in the lobby and we would discuss, I can't even remember, but I guess we would talk about, you know, how do you become a doctor?

What does that look like as far as [00:09:00] testing? Um, and then we would shadow him in his office. And I think that was huge because it opened up a door, uh, for me to be able to get in with an orthopedic surgeon as a high school student. And I thought that was very pivotal. And I would always come back during undergraduate, during medical school, I would go spend time in the office.

I would go to the operating room. So that early exposure, um, allowed me to. That this is something that I, I, because I like medicine, I like science, and I like sports, of course, and I thought it was a perfect marriage, even though it is not really as much as I thought it would be, but you know, it's enough to spark

rebecca lauderdale: is

derrick burgess: it never is, right?

But sparking that interest is important in a kid.

rebecca lauderdale: when you, when you went from public school in Alabama to Xavier, that was a historically black university. Like what, how was that experience different? And it must have been really, I would imagine, um, really great in some ways to [00:10:00] be around people who are so much more like you in some ways, who had shared experiences that maybe, maybe your friends in, in, in school in Alabama, a lot of them hadn't had.

derrick burgess: Yeah, so a hundred percent. I would say growing up in muscle shows, Alabama, I was, I think the racial makeup is about maybe 10 to 12% African American. My high school graduating class, it was probably out of 125 students, maybe 15 African American.

rebecca lauderdale: Mm-hmm.

derrick burgess: being, as I mentioned before, in honors classes, it was probably three to four students.

So you kind of became the token black kid, so to speak, um, in honors classes. So when I got to Xavier to be able to see excellence to the degree that it was present across the board, I mean, no longer was I the token smart kid. I was not even the smart. Um, so that was [00:11:00] eye-opening and I was able to see people from all walks of life, um, from all different social economic backgrounds, from outside of the United States, from the Caribbean, from Africa, you know, and to be able to see excellence across the board was eye-opening and it helped.

with identity, as you mentioned, uh, being able to be, it's okay to be smart as you want to and not be ridiculed. Um, and one of the most popular places to be on Xavier's campus was the library because we knew that if you wanted to get through it, and there were a lot of people, we were the number one, uh, undergraduate for getting out African Americans to medical school and as well as through medical school.

So the. Of building black doctors was very prominent and it was okay to be smart, and that was one of the first times that I really was able to identify with that.

rebecca lauderdale: Mm. So. you went on to go [00:12:00] to medical school, um, at Howard, right? And that's in Washington DC

derrick burgess: correct?

rebecca lauderdale: So what was it like? So this is the first time you really lived outside of the south, right?

derrick burgess: Yes.

rebecca lauderdale: Was, what was that like?

derrick burgess: Yeah, so number one, I always say tell my parents, I still cannot believe you let me go to New Orleans in the late nineties, um, straight outta high school. So I can only imagine how many nights of sleep my mom lost. Um, but to be able to go to DC was just another, you know, that's one of the most predominant black pop.

I'd say Mo one of the more pre. places where blacks, um, are in the majority number one, and achieving at a high level. Number two. And Howard University is known as the Mecca, um, for black HBCUs. Um, they have medical school, dental school, law school, nursing [00:13:00] school. Almost all the graduate degrees that you can achieve are on that campus.

So being able to be in that environment and then being able to be in an environment. Wanted you to, uh, succeed because that's not always the role and not always the experience that you'll have trying to achieve what I was going for. So being in a nurturing environment of that nature, uh, was an excellent experience for me.

So

rebecca lauderdale: Hmm. So you go back.

derrick burgess: yeah, I love to go back. Uh, my, I have a brother that lives in the DC suburban DC and my wife actually, we met at Howard. She was from Baltimore. So yes, so.

rebecca lauderdale: So tell me more about that

derrick burgess: So she was in medical, I mean I was in medical school or finishing medical school, starting my internship and surgery. She was a dental student. Um, and we met right around the schools.

Um, interesting story. We were in a restaurant. I saw her, but I didn't see her again for a while. And that was right when Facebook was starting [00:14:00] up. And we , we met on Facebook because you had to go to the same school to be able to connect on Facebook. At that

rebecca lauderdale: I remember that. You couldn't get, you couldn't see anybody but the people that were your actual classmates.

derrick burgess: Yeah. Yep.

rebecca lauderdale: So you found her and, and she moved back to the south with you. Had she ever lived in the south or

derrick burgess: if you want a real interview, that's the interview that you really

rebecca lauderdale: I bet yes, I need to put her on my list of people to request.

derrick burgess: No, she's from Baltimore, born and raised, and this was the first time that she lived, uh, in the south was when we moved.

rebecca lauderdale: Okay. I can completely absolutely understand why going to school with people, um, when you're a minority. and you get to go. You get to see other people like you who are succeeding and who aren't necessarily fulfilling, you know, stereotypes or tropes and how powerful that can be.

Um, what did it, what did it do for you [00:15:00] when you finished there and you came back to the south, back here to Laurel, Mississippi, which is a very different place than Washington dc um, but probably a lot more similar to where you grew up, um, in Alabama. What, what, what was that like and what did it do for you having had that really positive experience in college and, um, medical?

derrick burgess: I would say that it gave me confidence to know that I belonged as a physician, um, that I belonged as an orthopedic surgeon because, As you know, life will try you. Um, especially in the practice of medicine, every day is a new day and every day you can completely second guess even your knowledge and ability to perform.

Um, so being in an environment where I was able to get excellent training, um, and able to see other people that look like me, excel, it stuck with me and it gave me the [00:16:00] ability to be bold. Um, it gave me the ability to. . Um, and those are lessons that I'll never forget,

rebecca lauderdale: Mm-hmm. . So you're now a team physician for Jackson State University, which is another historically black university. Um, tell me how that happened.

derrick burgess: one of the attractive things about moving to Laurel was they had a need for a, uh, sports medicine director. So I. I guess I learned how to be a team physician in Laurel, taking care of high school athletes, uh, taking care of athletes in Jones County in the surrounding areas.

And we were able to build a very strong sports medicine program in this area for high school students. And we even have a sports performance program, uh, that we were able to build. We were able. Raise money so we could help kids that would not necessarily have access to that. Um, to be able to give back to the community.

 I had the opportunity to work with the [00:17:00] Cincinnati Bengals during my fellowship and one of the main things you think team physician, you thinking pro sports, um, but it's much larger than that. And I was able, do a meaningful work in this area because I was able to take care of athletes that might have not had the level of care that I could provide.

And I always took pride in that. Um, opportunities when opportunity knocks, you have to be ready. So that's how the Jackson State. thing came about. Um, there was an opening and there was a need for help and coverage, and I was able to, uh, fill that need. And it was, I mean, the last year of being on the road, especially with Coach Prime being there and the exposure and just being able to be.

In and out of these major stadiums and dealing with high level athletes. It's been a great exposure and a great experience, and it would happen in due time. You know, when it happened, I wasn't really even looking for it. I had reached out before and the time wasn't right, but you know, and God's time. It's not always [00:18:00] our time, but when the opportunity was there, I was able to take full advantage of it.

rebecca lauderdale: So, um, you still work with high school athletes now?

derrick burgess: Yes,

rebecca lauderdale: in your kind of day-to-day, day-to-day practice, um, have, have any of them expressed to you like kinda an interest in medicine or surgery because of working with you? Have

derrick burgess: Yes. So I've been able to, yeah, I've been able to mentor a lot of athletes and one of the main things, so I'll share with this. Number one, my. Not an athlete, but a first person to go all the way through medical school and just matched an ophthalmology. So I have my first mentee that's completely matriculated and that's a great feeling.

Um, . But one thing I do in my office, and one reason that I really started this podcast was because I wanted to be able to share my experiences so others can see that. You know, I believe if you don't, [00:19:00] aren't able to see it, many times you can't believe it and you won't be able to do it. But I challenged my athletes daily in the office.

I said, okay, you came in because your knee's. That's no problem. We'll take care of your knee, but tell me about your A C T score. Tell me about your gpa. You know, you're a junior, what's your plans after high school? And many times you get that blank stare or I haven't really thought about that yet. I'm so, whoa.

We have one year. Uh, and then, you know, once you're 18 and graduated, nobody cares. Okay. You have to figure it out this year. So I challenge my. They know that. And when they come in, you might get asked about your report card. You might get asked about your A C T scores and you're gonna probably get asked about your career plans.

And I don't tend to forget. I'll be like, remember, you were supposed to retake that a c t, let's talk about that. So I feel like that's one major role that. . I feel being in sports, and this is one of the reasons why I was called to be an orthopedic surgeon and a sports medicine physician, [00:20:00] is because I get exposure to a lot of minority athletes and I'm able to talk to them and have conversations that maybe they never had before and h help hold 'em to a level of accountability that maybe they, no one's ever held them to.

Um, so I feel like that's one of the major callings in what I do in my.

rebecca lauderdale: That's amazing. What a great story. , what a great legacy you're already already working on and you're still early in your career,

derrick burgess: Yeah.

rebecca lauderdale: you sort of answered a question I had I was gonna ask about, so your podcast called Timeout with the sports doctor, um, that you, you started it, was it during the pandemic too?

derrick burgess: Yes. So I launched on, um, father's Day of actually 2020.

rebecca lauderdale: Mm-hmm. . So you, you focus a lot. I mean, it's about sports in general, but that's not the only topic that you cover. And you, you cover a lot about he, you know, talking about obstacles and overcoming hardship and, and, [00:21:00] um, kinda resilience. So what, um, what things have you learned, because you've talked to a lot of people, you've done a lot of episodes.

How many, how many episodes have you

derrick burgess: so I'm on over 90 now,

rebecca lauderdale: Okay. So yeah, you've interviewed a lot of people, um, and not just athletes, not just doctors. You've interviewed all sorts of folks, including your grandfather, which is my favorite so far,

derrick burgess: Thank you.

rebecca lauderdale: I just love that one. Um, so, but you've talked to all these people and you've been able to pick their brain.

Um, what are, what have you learned from their stories about people who experience difficulty? , um, and then overcome it. what do our listeners need to know that, you know, from, from hearing all of that?

derrick burgess: Yeah. So I would say number one, the sports is debated. Um, because very rarely are we talking about sports, even if I'm talking to an athlete, uh, one of the main things I'd say my three pillars [00:22:00] are to strengthen your mindset, to help you grow your asset. And to help you achieve whatever level of success that you want to achieve for your life and whatever success means to you, first, you have to define it and then you can achieve it.

So I think sports athletes have large platforms. Athletes are able to, um, reach communities that I can't reach even as a physician, and they're able to talk to people and they'll listen. So I think that's one of the main things with sports. Uh, what I've learned from podcasting, number one is you can. If you're open to learn, you can learn from anyone.

Uh, many other people that I've interviewed, I say, I'm not really sure what this episode is gonna, I'm gonna get from it, or how this is gonna ring with my audience. Those turn out to be some of the best episodes if you're just open to hearing and listening to someone's story and really pulling out the things that you want to out of the episodes.

Um, and then the other. is collaboration, the power of collaboration. I've met people [00:23:00] I've interviewed, I'd say probably a third of the people that I've interviewed. I would've had no clue who they were a year and a half ago, and it's by asking you, Hey, do you have anyone that you think will fit with my podcast?

That's been something that's been very powerful and it's led one to another and you know, being able. As I started last quarter, money Mondays, because talking about money, even when you're around people that have monies, talking about money is a touchy subject.

rebecca lauderdale: We don't talk about it.

derrick burgess: Right. You know, and we don't understand it.

Um, you know, once everything kind of slowed down with the pandemic, and I would be able to get into group chats from people that, you know, I went to school with or trained with, and I'll start hearing them talking about investing in. real estate and things of that nature, and I was like, wow, I have no clue.

So I made it a personal, uh, challenge to myself, to educate myself, and I share a lot of what I've learned in real time on my podcast.

rebecca lauderdale: So can you think of [00:24:00] like one in particular interview you did that just went very differently than you expected in a, in a good way?

derrick burgess: Uh, one of my recent podcast episodes, um, with Jeffrey Holst, who is an author. Um, he talked about no bad days and I really didn't know how we were going to kind of communicate before, but we talked about. Going through illness and still keeping a positive. On life and being able to, no matter what happens to you con, you can control what you can control.

I don't know. I might walk out of the house and it's raining, but it doesn't mean it's gonna be a bad day simply because it's bad weather or something bad might happen to you this evening. But does that mean it's truly a bad day? Uh, because something good might have happened to you earlier today. So choosing what you're gonna focus on, um, I think is one of the things that.

resonated out of that podcast and I really didn't know how it was gonna go, and that was one of [00:25:00] one of the best interviews that I say I've had.

rebecca lauderdale: Um, are there things that you do on a regular basis to kind of make sure that you're staying true to who you are?

derrick burgess: Uh, I

rebecca lauderdale: busy and

derrick burgess: Sure.

rebecca lauderdale: you, how do you do that?

derrick burgess: So one of, I just recently reviewed Atomic Habits on my, uh, podcast. So the, one of the blessings and curse of being. In sports and especially during football season, it is just so wild and you're always on the go. And the last football season was really fun, but it was really exhausting.

So by the end of the year, you know, my wife is a pediatric dentist and we have three children. So by the end of the year, we were both literally crawling into the house. You know, just trying to make it to the break. So at the beginning of the year, I started going through Atomic Habits, um, and it's really just talking about the small things.

So many times I have to just unplug or get back to [00:26:00] the basics because the things that reading, um, devotionals, affirmations, things that keep me grounded and keep me healthy. When you get really busy sometimes that's the first thing to go. So really just sticking to those daily habits that got you to where you.

Um, and it's gonna take that same level of concentration or more to get you to the level where you want to go to. So I would say don't forget the things that got you where you are, and you always have to keep those a part of your daily routine. And really building strong daily habits is one of the main success points or, or tips that I will give.

rebecca lauderdale: So how do you stay connected with your, your immediate family, like your wife, your kids? , what do you do?

derrick burgess: Yeah. So that's not something that I perfected, but what we do is try to

rebecca lauderdale: none of us

derrick burgess: we have, yeah, have, try to have guarded time, um, time in the morning where we come together as a family and [00:27:00] we pray before the kids go to school. And we do affirmations before the kids go to school. And as much as possible, we try to eat dinner together.

That's usually a protected time. Now, one thing, when you have people going multiple direct. That can fall short sometimes, but we try to come together and eat all at the dinner table. 

rebecca lauderdale: are your kids are your how? How old are your kids?

derrick burgess: Yeah, so I have a pre-teen now, officially a pre-teen, a 12, nine, and eight. So we're to the, we're to that point where everybody's got different activities going on from dance to softball, to basketball, to football. So we're all over with activities to archery. 

Yeah. Yeah. So we have a lot of different interests, um, and we're just really trying to allow them to be themselves at the same time while we're holding down professional careers.

rebecca lauderdale: Yeah. It's a difficult balance, and I think that word balance is almost like it's, it's impossible to get a perfect balance. It's

derrick burgess: Yeah, it's not gonna be 50 50 and in some seasons it might be 70, 30. Some seasons it might be, you know, 80 [00:28:00] 20, but 50 50, I'm not sure if that's what we are aiming for, even to be

rebecca lauderdale: Yeah, right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. 

 What, what are you doing differently with your kids? To teach them that they belong with you, you know? 

derrick burgess: I think one challenge, and we always talk about this, um, my wife and I, is our kids are growing up completely different in a different way. Um, and they're being exposed to so many different things that we did not have access to. So one of the things that I worry about with my kids, honestly, is that, that they will lose, not respect, but. not have the grind or the hustle mentality that we grew up with because we're both first generation physician and dentist. Um, and we didn't have necessarily the fallback that our children will have. So as always a focus to let them know that what [00:29:00] they're exposed to is not the norm, so to speak.

And that just because you grow up in a home with two physicians, you're privileged in a way. You cannot expect that, and you cannot expect anyone to give you anything you still have to earn for yourself. You still have to, know who you are, number one. But do not feel that just because you have things that other people have that you're better than them.

So we always try to keep our children grounded. Um, we want them to know what money is. Uh, respect money. Know how to make money for yourself. Um, You're not any better than anyone else, simply because your car might be nicer, you get to go on nicer vacations. Um, so we really try to keep our children grounded, um, but at the same time empower them to know that they can achieve anything, uh, that they set their minds to.

rebecca lauderdale: Many times when we see successful people, and I'll talk about this on my podcast, we see them where they are, but that's not where they started. And [00:30:00] many times we might be afraid to approach someone who we deem successful, but trust me, they struggle. I struggle. We all have struggles that we have to overcome, so.

derrick burgess: be able to see someone and respect what they have or respect what they do, what they do. But don't be afraid because we're all humans and we all have struggles, and I encourage people to really. , um, share some of your failures just as much as you'll share your success. And I think that's one thing about social media.

There's many times where people are trying to live up to someone else's standard even though it's not really real. Um, because many times on social media, people are showing only what they do well at. They don't show what they struggle with. And that's one thing that I try to, I mean, I've failed standardized test.

I've. It didn't match the first time in orthopedics. Um, and that's one story that I tell, you know, I could have easily gone a different way, even though I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon since [00:31:00] high school.

rebecca lauderdale: Mm-hmm.

derrick burgess: when it came that I didn't match the first time, I could have turned and gone in the other direction.

But I decided to keep pushing for a goal, um, that I set forth, uh, to accomplish 15 years prior. Um, so many times you're gonna deal with setbacks, but that's not the end of the road. 

So, um, if I can, I'll tell people if I can become a physician, if I can become an orthopedic surgeon, you can too. 

Um, and that's something that my father taught. Uh, was work ethic and do some of the simple things. Showing up on time, uh, helping people doing what you can, volunteering your time, that all counts. And if you really want something bad enough, you'll fight for it. And that's really what my life is about.

rebecca lauderdale: I just remember growing up the impression on me of the weight that would be put on, um, a sense of someone's inborn talent.

derrick burgess: Right.

rebecca lauderdale: rather than their persistence, um, and their hard work. And then we know now [00:32:00] that inborn talent almost means nothing.

I mean, it, it means something, but it

derrick burgess: a certain

rebecca lauderdale: means nothing. Uh,

derrick burgess: It'll get you to a certain level, but it's not gonna get you to through the finish line.

rebecca lauderdale: you mentioned talking with people who are successful and knowing cuz you've talked with them, you've talked with them about their story and you know, what it looked like to get there.

And it was, it's real messy and it's that way for. Everybody I as a primary care doctor talked to a lot, a lot of people about their lives and what their lives have been like. And there is not a single person who skated through . 

you really, really need to get to know people who they really are, um, and, and understand that that persistence and passion for things means so much. Um, yeah.

derrick burgess: I would say the road to success is usually not a pretty path. You know, it's dirty, it's lonely at times.[00:33:00] 

rebecca lauderdale: yeah.

derrick burgess: it can be, you have to fight for it, uh, many times, especially if you are not born into it, you. People are not gonna give up power to you, uh, per se. Um, you have to be willing to go the extra mile sometimes and willing to do an extra amount of work or study later and do what it takes to, to achieve what you want.

rebecca lauderdale: Hmm. Well, I have enjoyed talking to you so much. I'm really glad that you, you were able to take some time to talk with me today, so

derrick burgess: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I enjoyed your interview style. You've actually asked me some things that never really been asked

rebecca lauderdale: Oh, good. I'm so glad.

derrick burgess: yeah. Not just the standard, you know, how, tell me about being a physician or things of that nature.

rebecca lauderdale: thank you again

You too. Bye bye.

That concludes another episode of belonging in the south, a guide for misfits. And you can find Dr. Burgess on [00:34:00] Instagram and LinkedIn, his links are in the show notes, and you can listen to his podcast, timeout with the sports doctor, wherever you get your podcasts. There's a link to that in the notes as well. 

And just as a plug for that podcast. Even if you aren't a sports fan, which I admit typically describes me. He covers subjects that you're likely to enjoy anyway. Including that really, really sweet and wonderful episode with his grandfather. As always, I love you guys and you out there listening to this podcast mean a great deal to me. Thank you for listening. 

And if this podcast has meant something to you. Please scroll up and tap that subscribe button and then scroll down and rate and review. It makes a huge difference in my ability to grow the show and to bring you more interviews with amazing southerners. 

And if you know a southerner, who'd be a great guest for the show. Including yourself. Please fill out the guest nomination form on the website@belonginginthesouth.com or follow the link in the [00:35:00] show notes. If you'd like to get to know fellow listeners and talk about the subjects that we cover in the show. 

You can join our Facebook group, that links also in the show notes, or you can just search belonging in the south in groups on Facebook. As always much love until next time.