A Favorable Prognosis
Xavier’s “hurricane class” of students entering medical schools is even higher than the year before.
By Pearl Stewart
Dr. Keith Amos’ undying support for his undergrad alma mater, Xavier University of Louisiana, took an unusual turn last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Amos remembers becoming emotional as he watched news coverage of desperate students awaiting rescue on the roof of an Xavier dorm. The now-famous photo of the students hoisting signs pleading, “help us” moved Amos to act. Living in Houston while completing a surgical oncology fellowship, he soon found ways to help the evacuees from New Orleans and some of the students at his beloved Xavier.
“After it was announced that people were being evacuated from the [New Orleans] Superdome and brought to the Houston Astrodome, I went to the Astrodome at about 11:00 that night and volunteered,” he says. Amos was one of many physicians conducting impromptu medical screenings and helping evacuees obtain medications that had been lost or destroyed. “We did what we could to help, but what a lot of people needed was somebody to talk to, so I did a lot of listening.”
