When you choose a preceptor, you are choosing more than a supervisor—you are choosing a mentor whose philosophy and approach will shape your own. The training and traditions that formed your mentor are therefore of paramount importance. Dr. Augustus Hill’s surgical residency at Howard University is not just a line on his biography; it is the foundation of his entire approach to medicine and teaching. To understand the value of this program, one must first understand the profound legacy of Howard.

Training at Howard, the nation’s only teaching hospital on the campus of a Historically Black College and University, means being immersed in an environment defined by two core principles: the relentless pursuit of clinical excellence and an unwavering commitment to serving diverse and underserved communities. It is a place where physicians learn to tackle complex medical challenges with limited resources, to communicate across cultural divides, and to see every patient as a whole person deserving of dignity and the highest quality of care. This ethos has been a constant throughout its history, from its origins serving the Black community of Washington, D.C., to its current role as a Level 1 Trauma Center caring for a diverse urban population.

This is the tradition that Dr. Hill brings to his practice and to his students. The lessons learned at Howard are visible every day in our clinic, where approximately half of our patients are Spanish-speaking, and where we strive to provide culturally competent, compassionate care. When you learn from Dr. Hill, you are not just learning surgical technique or diagnostic reasoning. You are learning a model of medicine grounded in a legacy of service, resilience, and a deep-seated belief in health equity. For an aspiring physician from Latin America, this is an opportunity to be mentored by someone whose own training was forged in the service of a community, a principle that will resonate deeply with your own calling to the profession.