Nicolette Collins, MD

Despite growing up in middle class neighborhoods, Dr. Nicolette Collins was just five years old when a man was stabbed and killed outside her house. She was 12 when the next stabbing victim, screaming at the top of his lungs, pounded on her front door. The following day she had to walk past the dried blood to get to junior high school. These incidents are just two of many that compelled Dr. Collins to write her memoir, "The Day I Stayed." The book title refers to the day that she changed her mind about quitting medical school. She is the former Medical Director for the City and County of San Francisco’s Special Programs for Youth. Her position included being the medical director of the juvenile hall, the boy’s prison, two homeless shelters for teenagers, and two HIV clinics for teenagers. Dr. Collins’ memoir is a frank discussion of her difficulties growing up and her adjustment to being a Black woman in the white-male-dominated medical profession.

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