Peace Corps Doctor
Jemison graduated from medical school in 1981 and later on served in the Peace Corps in West Africa. There she supervised health care for Peace Corps and U.S Embassy personnel and worked with the National Institutes of Health and CDC (Center for Disease Control). She helped with various research projects at CDC, which includes the development of a vaccine for Hepatitis B.
Astronaut Mae C. Jemison attends ‘One Strange Rock’ World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall on March 14, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/WireImage)
In the course of her Peace Corps career stint; she was questioned once due to her order of an Air Force hospital plane for a military medical evacuation that cost around $80,000. During this time, a volunteer became seriously ill, and Jemison diagnosed it as meningitis with life-threatening complications. She told the embassy that she did not need anyone’s authorization for a medical decision. It was reported that Jemison was on the plane with the patient for 56 hours by the time they got to Germany. The patient survived.