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NMF Portraits: A Conversation with Dr. Antoinette Charles
NMF scholars and alumni are transforming healthcare one story at a time. In the first edition of NMF Portraits, Dr. Antoinette Charles shares her path to medicine, from the heritage that inspired her calling to the experiences that continue to fuel her work today.
Antoinette Jasmine Charles, MD, MPH, is a first-year Orthopedic Surgery Resident in the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program and an emerging leader in global health, health policy, and surgical innovation. A community advocate for medically underserved communities, Dr. Charles has organized annual medical brigades delivering over $100,000 in resources and healthcare to more than 1,000 patients across Central America, serves as policy lead for the non-profit A Healthier Democracy, and previously represented medical students in the White House Health Equity Leaders Roundtable on Innovation and Technology.
She is also a health entrepreneur, launching the national Future Leaders in Surgery Symposium (FLXSUS) to provide surgical exposure to more than 1,000 medical students, and co-developed Duke University’s Spine Patient Navigator Program to support patients through postoperative recovery.
Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?
As a first-generation Haitian American, I grew up connected to the legacy of Haiti’s historical ‘Bone Setters,’ the earliest practitioners of fracture care. Becoming an orthopedic surgeon allows me to serve my community, honor my grandparents’ sacrifices, and embrace my cultural heritage – all while restoring mobility and independence to the vessel of the human soul.
Q: How does NMF support you in your quest to become a healer?
The Alliant Health Solutions/NMF Medical Research Scholarship supported my research and helped launch the first Future Leaders in Surgery Symposium (FLXSUS), a program that has now continued for four years. As the founder of FLXSUS, I lead a team of over 40 medical students, residents, and attendings in developing virtual and in-person surgical exposure programs across Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, and General Surgery, including keynote lectures, career panels, research showcases, OR tours, and hands-on workshops for undergraduate students.
Being part of NMF’s legacy feels like entering a lineage of changemakers who broke barriers and uplifted communities through service. It is an honor to contribute to that story.
Q: Can you describe a patient interaction that has inspired your work today?
A young mother and physician assistant was overwhelmed while recovering from spine surgery after her metastatic breast cancer spread. Though quite resilient, she said, ‘If I feel lost and I work in medicine, what happens to someone who doesn’t know the system?’
Patients receive life-changing surgery but often lack the guidance, reassurance, and logistical support needed to recover well. She reminded me that exceptional care extends beyond the operating room and inspired me to co-develop the Spine Patient Navigator Program to support patients through appointments, education, and resources during the perioperative period.
Q: If you had every resource at your disposal, how would you change medicine?
I would create systems where medical care and social care function as one – ensuring every patient has access to housing support, food security, transportation, mental health resources, and culturally attuned care. I would expand early career programming, ensure surgical leadership is representative of the communities they serve, and promote policies eliminating financial barriers to necessary treatment.
Q: What advice do you have for students just beginning their medical education journeys?
Plan with intention and execute with consistency. Medical school can feel overwhelming, but having a clear sense of your priorities – and revisiting them often – will keep you grounded.
Seek mentorship at every level. Some of the most valuable guidance comes not just from attendings, but from residents, fellows, and even peers who are one or two steps ahead of you. Each mentor offers a different lens that will shape your growth.
And most importantly, find your community. Surround yourself with people who uplift you, challenge you, and remind you why you started. Community will sustain you through the long nights, celebrate your milestones, and help you become the kind of physician you aspire to be.
While earning her MD from Duke University School of Medicine, her MPH from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and her BS in Neuroscience from Georgia State University, Dr. Charles also participated in clinical research spanning orthopedic-related infections, rare genetic disorders, neurology, and neurosurgery, with work conducted at institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow.
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