Dr. Shanica Pompey

By Remekca Owens

As a young illustrator, Dr. Shanica Pompey’s gifts and love for art could have easily set her on a lifelong path to a career as an artist. However, at age 17, the course of her life changed quickly after her mother survived a serious health scare.

 “I was actively pursuing a career in visual arts when my mother underwent a hysterectomy. This came as no surprise, given my family’s history. But what did come as a shock was the subsequent pulmonary embolism that almost ended her life,” said Dr. Pompey, a Dallas native. “Along with handling the rigors of a double major and working part-time to help support my family, the first two years of my undergraduate education were spent changing dressings, administering injections, and keeping track of my mother’s numerous appointments and prescriptions.

“Her brush with death, along with the negative cycle of health in my family, set my feet on the path of medicine and cultivated a budding passion for women’s health.” 

So, after graduating cum laude from UT Dallas with a double major in biology and business administration, Dr. Pompey began working as a research assistant at UT Southwestern Medical Center in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Michaely while saving money for medical school. Under the guidance of Dr. Michaely, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, she was published as first and second author on three different scientific papers examining the functions of low-density lipoproteins. 

After embarking upon her UT Southwestern Medical School education, Dr. Pompey quickly decided that obstetrics and gynecology provided the perfect balance for the personal passion ignited by her mother’s illness and her own skills and interests.

Her academic efforts and displays of leadership during the past four years have helped in Dr. Pompey’s selection as recipient of the 2016 Southwestern Gynecologic Assembly Award, which is given annually to an outstanding UT Southwestern graduate who is pursuing a career in the specialty.

“Given my passion for the visual arts, it is imperative that I dedicate my life to an intricate field that allows me to utilize my hands, while nurturing a creative mind,” said Dr. Pompey. As a first-year medical student, she participated in a classical figure drawing course offered by Dr. Sumeet Teotia, Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, who is a classically trained artist and surgical expert in breast reconstruction after cancer care.

While she attributes her success to the sacrifices, support, and guidance of her family, Dr. Pompey considers Dr. Mary Jane Pearson, who she met her during the first year of medical school, as her mentor.

“Shanica has been a pure delight as a student here,” said Dr. Pearson, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and UT Southwestern alumna (Class of 1980). “Her enthusiasm and work ethic are infectious. Residents and faculty and nursing staff are all impressed and especially happy she is staying here for residency.”

Dr. Pompey soon will begin her obstetrics and gynecology residency at UT Southwestern and Parkland Memorial Hospital. She hopes to continue striving toward her goals of being an innovative, compassionate caretaker. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I am certain that I will be well trained and ready to handle anything,” she said.