JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) – According to his wife, the prominent doctor and medical pioneer, Aaron Shirley, has died.
Dr. Shirley has had a long and influential career in the Mississippi medical community and has left an indelible mark.
The ground-breaking physician and civil rights activist was born in Gluckstadt, Mississippi in 1933.
He is a graduate of Tougaloo College and Meharry Medical College.
He took his pediatrics residency at the University of Mississippi in 1965 and was the first African American to accomplish this feat.
For a long time, Shirley was the only black pediatrician in the state of Mississippi. Shirley completed medical school and an internship in Tennessee before entering private practice in Vicksburg. He set his sights on a pediatric residency out of state, but was invited to apply for a training slot at UMMC.
He accepted, becoming the first African-American resident — and the first black learner in any program — at UMMC in 1965. He went on to serve as a clinical instructor in the Department of Pediatrics for more than 40 years. In 1970, he helped to establish the Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, which became the largest community health center in the state and a model for federally funded community health centers nationwide.
He also established a comprehensive school-based clinic to provide health and counseling services to help reduce teen pregnancy, drug abuse, teen violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and mental health issues.
In 2013 he won the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges for “his lifetime of service in support of diversity in medical education and the elimination of health disparities.”
“For all of his adult life, he has been a courageous champion of civil rights and equal access to health services for African Americans,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC’s associate vice chancellor for health affairs and vice dean of the School of Medicine, who nominated Shirley for the award.
Shirley was the Chairman of the Board for the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation and an associate professor in pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
According to their website: “Dr. Shirley has dedicated his life to others as a pioneer of rural and urban health care for the state of Mississippi. It is his commitment to this profession that inspired his vision for a one stop shop health care facility for the underserved. That concept became a reality with the Jackson Medical Mall, acclaimed as one of the nation’s most unique community health care endeavors.”