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Countless Chicagoans start their day in a similar way: with a cup of coffee and a morning commute that takes longer than it should. There aren’t many who head to work for a 13-hour shift, six days a week for at least three years.
Fewer still would choose to put themselves through that grueling gauntlet when rejection letter after rejection letter filled her mailbox for four years until someone said, “Yes.”
Dr. Jaleesa Harris not only chose her path, she wasn’t about to let anything stop her from achieving her dream of becoming a doctor and delivering for her community.
“My parents taught me that we’re blessed only to be a blessing,” Jaleesa said. “That was something that my family instilled in me: giving back.”
Austin has always been home for Jaleesa, who is working her way through her first year as a resident physician at John H. Stroger Hospital, the flagship of Cook County Health which sits just south of the United Center off of Interstate 290.
“We moved around a lot when I was a kid,” she recalled. “It was always Austin, but it was this street, that street and that street.”
A strong family kept her settled, while the frequent moves opened her eyes to what was out there, but wasn’t in her neighborhood.
“Growing up close to Oak Park, I started noticing differences,” Jaleesa recalled. “Why does this place have so many grocery stores and so many places for kids to go and play? It looked so much safer and so much cleaner, versus my neighborhood where there’s trash on the street, barely any grocery stores.”
At one point she lived on Austin Boulevard, the dividing line between Austin and neighboring Oak Park, a village with a median income roughly three times that of Austin.
“So just looking across the street I could see a totally different world,” she said. “Why don’t we have the same assets and resources as this place that’s literally right across the street?”
The questions weren’t rhetorical.
By the time Jaleesa was ready to enter high school, her early interest in science became a focus on biology and anatomy and ultimately the realization that becoming a physician was her goal.
The Whitney M. Young Magnet High School graduate matriculated to the University of Illinois Chicago where she earned a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences. She was on her way.
Then the plan hit a snag.
“It took me a total of four years after graduating college before I got into medical school,” Jaleesa said. “That was the first time I ever doubted if it was possible.”
She applied to more than 20 medical schools during each application cycle for three consecutive years only to be rejected by every single one.
The same family support structure that kept her settled when moving from apartment to apartment as a kid, kept her on track to achieve her goals.
“I’m grateful that I had the support of my loved ones, because they never told me to quit, they never told me to give up,” Jaleesa said. “They told me to keep trying, keep going, keep applying.
Quitting was never an option.
“I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said. “It was a dream I couldn’t give up on.”
She was accepted into the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in 2016 and earned her Doctor of Medicine (MD) in 2022.
The journey wasn’t what she expected, but in the end Jaleesa is exactly where she knew she would be.
“If you have a dream and God put something in your heart, no matter how many people tell you no, no matter how many doors seem to get closed in your face, keep pushing, keep trying, keep believing because the door’s going to be opened if it’s what you were created to do, if it’s what you were supposed to do.”
Jaleesa not only knew what she wanted to do, but she knew where she wanted her dream to become a reality.
“I know where I want to work,” she said. “Where I work has to be on the Westside.”
One of the top students in her class, Jaleesa was a sought-after resident following her completion of medical school.
“I had the opportunity to go to more well-known universities that have hospitals downtown or out in the suburbs,” she said. “But I intentionally choose Cook County because this has the population of the people I want to serve.”
She’s investing herself back into the community that allowed her to grow.
“I’ve always known that the Westside is rich in people,” Jaleesa said. “I saw the need for my people to be seen and to be taken care of, and to have a doctor who they can trust or speak to them in a way that comes from a place of understanding - I grew up where you grew up. I lived where you live, so I understand some of the challenges that you face.”
While she still has a few years remaining in her residency, she’s already planning her next move - a holistic approach to health care on the Westside through broad-spectrum family medicine.
“I want to address the needs of the community,” Jaleesa said. “Instead of just saying, ‘Go buy fruits and vegetables,’ I want to make sure there’s a place in your community where you can buy fruits and vegetables at an affordable price.”
It’s a natural progression in her eyes.
“That’s why we have gifts and talents: in order to share, in order to serve,” she said, noting that her role is to become the best resource she can for the Westside.
Her newest dream to bridge the gap between her Westside neighbors and their health care might just be her toughest challenge yet, but she’s up for it.
“I know your dream can feel like a burden,” Jalessa said, speaking from experience. “Continue to pursue it, continue to press toward it. Don’t give up on your dream. Don’t give up on yourself and your dream will come to pass.”
Dr. Jaleesa Harris is one of 18 up-and-coming Westside leaders selected to be a part of the inaugural cohort of Community Leadership Fellows. Community Leadership Fellows (CLF) is a leadership development experience that involves educational workshops, tactical training, collaborative learning, coaching, mentoring and networking. We believe that the investment in homegrown talent will lead to sustainable, vibrant communities.
Dr. Jaleesa Harris, CLF ’23 Fellow and Resident Physician at Stroger Hospital. Hear more about how the grit you gained from growing up on the Westside gave her the strength to complete medical school.