FSU Alum & Physician The gospel song “I Won’t Complain” includes the lyrics, “I’ve had some good days, I’ve had some hills to climb, I’ve had some weary days, and some sleepless nights, but when I look around, and I think things over, all of my good days, outweigh my bad days, I won’t complain.” That’s Dr. Melvin Echols’ favorite song and he sings it a lot. In fact, the 1998 Fayetteville State University graduate says “I Won’t Complain” is the motto he tries to live by. “There’s so much that comes in your life that you look at and you can easily become depressed and downtrodden with what’s going on or you can just be thankful and look at each and every one of these things as blessings and ultimately that’s exactly what it is… I’ve finally learned to accept that.” That attitude has paid off throughout Echols’ life. When he was just a boy and classmates laughed when he said he wanted to be a physician, he didn’t complain; he studied how to make it happen. “I’m looking back now and I’m actually amazed myself.” When he became a teenage father his senior year in high school and had to make the kinds of choices his peers didn’t have to, he didn’t complain. Instead he shifted his priorities, including choosing to attend FSU to be close to his son. “He’s a very prominent source of my inspiration and motivation.” Echols earned a biology degree from FSU in three years and completed medical school eight years ago at Morehouse College. Now Echols is relo-
A Positive Outlook on Life
cating from the prestigious Duke University Medical Center in Durham, where he’s practiced medicine off and on since 2002, to a tiny medical practice in the small city of Lumberton, and he’s not complaining. “It’s been quite challenging for Southeastern Regional (hospital in Lumberton) to recruit academic physicians down there because it’s Lumberton.” But Echols, who is a cardiologist, says Lumberton is the perfect fit for him. “It’s probably one of the best places to be in terms of looking at cardiovascular disease and how it impacts various communities. There’s a 25 to 30 percent Native American percentage in Robeson County so that’s huge. I’m really excited about it.”
Echols will be the clinic director of the practice in Lumberton, which currently has a staff of two. Duke manages the practice and Echols will remain on Duke’s faculty. He is dedicated to studying cardiovascular disease. “Academic research is huge for me and I’m very interested in racial disparities in cardiovascular care. I’ve actually written a fair amount about certain disease types and racial disparities. That’s where I’ll really begin to launch my career.” Being in Lumberton puts Echols closer to his hometown, Ivanhoe, in Sampson County. It also puts him close to his alma mater. “The fact that I will be in Lumberton in July and still working at Duke in terms of the research, with Fayetteville State close by as well, this creates a triangulation for me for a number of networks to become very productive in making people aware of cardiovascular disease, why it’s important to take blood pressure medicines, why it’s important to know your numbers.” Echols says these are the principles his work is rooted in. “Hopefully I will maybe branch out and continue to provide outreach care to communities in North Carolina that don’t have
access to Duke Medical System. I’d like to be part of that and manage that on a big level.” Dr. Echols is on the board of directors of the Fayetteville State University Foundation. He’s also served as a guest speaker for Founders Day at FSU. He enjoys connecting with and motivating students, and touting the benefits of HBCUs. “I gave a talk to some high school students a couple of weeks ago in Durham and I said you should be grateful you’re close to the Centrals and Shaws and Fayetteville States but a lot of people turn their nose down and don’t understand it’s not all about the university. The university helps make you in terms of your education and understanding but you make yourself successful.” Lumberton is getting an accomplished, smart, compassionate doctor in Melvin Echols. He says he just might stick around for a while. “I think this is where I’m going to end up. I may be in Lumberton for 20 years but the fact of the matter is just because I’m in Lumberton doesn’t mean you aren’t going to see me somewhere else and I think that’s the power of being in Lumberton because it’s so unassuming and you’re sort of stealth, people have no idea what you’re getting ready to do. That’s part of how I’ve lived my life. I love the shock value.”
2010 Spring - Summer 25