“I was created to do this, and that makes every bit of the difference,” Congress said. “I enjoy going to work every day.”
And for her, working at UAB Medical West makes the job even better.
“I was born in the hospital where I practice,” she said. “My grandmother retired from here, and Medical West has always been part of my life. So coming here to practice medicine was a natural for me. This is my home. This is my community.”
Not to mention, pursuing a career in the medical field is what Congress has always wanted to do.
“I decided I wanted to be a physician when I was four years old because I liked my pediatrician so much, and I never wanted to be anything else,” she said. “Every career day or event, I headed for the medical professionals.”
After graduating from Shades Valley’s Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Congress earned a bachelor’s degree at Talladega College. But even though her ultimate educational goal was to graduate from medical school, she decided to take a break from her studies. So at that point, she took a teaching job with Birmingham City Schools.
“I loved the kids, and I loved teaching, but I loved it almost too much,” she said. “I was working with mostly lower income kids, and I wanted to fix everything for them. But of course I couldn’t.”
Congress did, however, have a positive influence on some of the youngsters’ lives and continues to keep in touch with some of her first students, who are now in college.
But she eventually turned her attention and career path back toward the medical field and entered Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania. As soon as possible, however, she intended to return to the South.
“I’m such a Southern girl, and I really wanted to do my clinical rotations back home,” she said. “But I had to put in a request for that with someone who always said ‘no’ to things. When he said ‘yes,’ I couldn’t believe it. But I know now it was divine intervention.”
So when the time came, Congress headed back to Birmingham for rotations at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital then to Tuscaloosa for her residency at The University of Alabama Family Medicine Residency. A little over a year ago, she happily settled in “back home” at Medical West.
“This part of town is my ministry,” she said. “I live, work and worship here, and I make it a point to attend events in this community. I want to be visible and inclusive. People like to see their doctor out and about.”
A believer in community service, Congress makes herself available to participate in health fairs whenever asked, and she works tirelessly for causes involving breast cancer and domestic violence.
“Those are two things I’m passionate about,” she said. “I lost an aunt to breast cancer, and I personally am a survivor of domestic violence that occurred when I was 20 years old. So it’s something I feel adamant about, and I want to use my experience to minister to others.”
Congress spoke at Bessemer’s First Annual Pink and Purple Parade last fall and plans to participate in an upcoming domestic violence seminar this fall. She finds additional opportunities to minister through involvement in her church, First Missionary Baptist Church of Hueytown, where her father pastors and her brother serves as youth director.
But it’s her everyday interaction with patients that allows her to regularly make a difference in the lives of others.
“It’s an amazing feeling to walk out of a patient’s room and know you’ve done something to touch somebody,” she said. “But I know that I have no power to do any of this on my own. I’m just allowing God to use me.
“It can be mind-blowing, and I’m always grateful to be able to do what I do. I don’t take it lightly that people choose me to facilitate their medical care.”