Within the often-rigid world of medical physics—a subject dominated by linear accelerators and grayscale knowledge curves—Dr. Breona McQueen is bringing shade, charisma, and readability. At simply 27 years previous, the LA-born powerhouse has earned a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from UCLA and is now finishing her residency at USC’s Keck College of Drugs.
Her journey towards this elite nook of medication started at Rancho Verde Excessive College in Moreno Valley, the place McQueen remembers the second {that a} instructor introduced she had earned the very best rating.
“Math got here so naturally to me that I assumed it was straightforward for everybody else too,” McQueen mentioned.
That spark ignited a sequence response. Inspired to take extra superior programs—together with AP Physics—McQueen was additionally launched to a sobering actuality: lower than 1% of physicists within the U.S. had been Black.
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“She advised me, ‘I believe you need to change into a physicist. There aren’t sufficient of you. And also you’re particular.’ I by no means forgot that,” McQueen mentioned.
Regardless of the encouragement, McQueen initially pursued one other dream—majoring in music at Louisiana State College. A educated opera singer, she nonetheless retains her vocal abilities alive.
“I nonetheless sing in church,” she mentioned. “However I noticed I didn’t want a level to do this.”
Halfway by way of her sophomore yr, she switched to physics, diving headfirst into superior arithmetic. The issue didn’t intimidate her—it energized her.
“I’d end exams in underneath 10 minutes,” she mentioned. “Individuals assumed I gave up, however I used to be carried out. I accomplished and often obtained a excessive rating. And often close to good.”
Ultimately, a Google search led to the invention that will launch her profession: medical physics.
“It was science that healed,” she mentioned. “It handled radiation remedy, most cancers diagnostics, and therapy planning. It felt proper.”
Her dedication grew deeper when she discovered that many medical physicists work in most cancers therapy—a private connection, as her grandmother survived most cancers twice.
“I knew then: this was my calling,” she mentioned.
McQueen was accepted into UCLA’s extremely aggressive graduate program, the place she labored on cutting-edge analysis. Then got here the “Tremendous Bowl” of her occupation—residency placement. In contrast to different medical disciplines, medical physics packages usually have only one residency slot per establishment, with a whole lot competing for every spot.
“I solely utilized to 2 packages: USC and Cedars-Sinai,” she mentioned. “I knew the place I wished to go—and I knew I might make them need me.”
From a pool of 165 candidates, USC selected McQueen.
Now, she has residency in one of many nation’s best radiation oncology departments. Exterior of her USC place, she runs a tutoring enterprise and teaches programs like coding to highschool college students in the course of the summers.
“It’s vital for college kids—particularly Black ladies—to see me on this area,” she mentioned. “Range additionally means you possibly can have other ways of considering, they usually should know they don’t must look a sure option to be on this area.”
Her path, nevertheless, has not been with out obstacles. She has confronted microaggressions, dismissive college, bodily intimidation, and racist assumptions.
“Some professors didn’t assume I belonged,” she mentioned. “However I didn’t argue. I let my analysis communicate louder.”
McQueen can also be outspoken about how drugs has traditionally failed ladies’s well being.
“The medical system nonetheless ignores our ache,” she mentioned. “Ailments like fibroids and endometriosis are under-researched. Even extreme menstrual cramps are wrongly normalized.”
From her research, she has discovered that irritation is an often-overlooked perpetrator behind power sickness.
“Irritation underpins so many power sicknesses,” she mentioned. “And one in all its greatest drivers? Sugar. As soon as I discovered that, I needed to reevaluate every little thing—from my eating regimen to my stress ranges.”
When requested what recommendation she would give to a younger Black lady hoping to comply with her path, McQueen mentioned they need to know that they’ve privilege.
“You don’t want inherited privilege. You’re the privileged. You’re the gems. You’re the geniuses within the room.”
