Elisabeth Londono, DPM
As a former BMS student, she relates to the aspiring doctors she teaches and positions herself as both a mentor and role model.
Dr. Elisabeth Londono knows how to stay busy. She is a mom, a practicing foot and ankle specialist in Miami, and a professor in Barry’s Biomedical Sciences graduate program, where she also earned her degree in 2000. Returning to Barry’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences has been a rewarding experience for Londono. The BMS program was her first exposure to podiatric medicine and the impetus toward earning her doctorate from Barry in 2006. To her, it feels right to serve the program that helped shape her career. As a former BMS student, she relates to the aspiring doctors she teaches and positions herself as both a mentor and role model. “They are me 20 years ago, and I am them in the future,” she says. “I find a lot of symbolism, humility, and pride in being with these students.”
Giving back has always been important to Londono. Originally from Dakar, Senegal, she attended high school in the U.S. as an exchange student, then remained to pursue her higher education. She returns to Senegal twice per year, both to visit family and participate in medical missions with the pediatric oncology department at the hospital where her father once served as a pediatrician. She has also worked with the Yucatan Crippled Children’s Project. But sharing her expertise with a future generation of medical doctors has been particularly gratifying. After all, she has a lot of experience to share. Once she earned her doctorate from Barry, she went on to pursue a demanding surgical residency at Miami’s Mercy Hospital and practice with KG Health Partners, a leading podiatric medical group serving Miami’s elder community. In that role, she found particular pleasure in working with seniors. “It was fantastic developing those bonds since I grew up so close to my grandparents,” she says.
Londono considers Barry’s BMS program as integral to her own success and that of anyone who intends to enter medical school. Not only does the program prepare students for the challenges of medical school, it also introduces them early to critical content and skills. “Once in medical school, lots of the information my cohort was being exposed to for the first time I was reviewing or relearning,” she says. “So, my mastery of the information was at a different level.” She encourages anyone considering applying to the program to go for it. “It’s extra time to mature, settle, develop, before things get really serious.”