Dr. Vonzella Bryant was born in Kansas City, Kansas. She graduated from Xavier University in New Orleans in 1996 and went on to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for her medical degree. She completed her emergency medicine residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania (now known as Drexel University School of Medicine) in Philadelphia in 2003.
Vonzella moved to Boston in 2004, working as an attending physician in emergency medicine at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center outside of Boston. In 2017, she transitioned to the academic setting at the safety net hospital Boston Medical Center (BMC) where she not only works as an attending physician in the busiest Level I trauma center in the Boston area, but is also the emergency medicine clerkship director and assistant professor at Boston University (BU) School of Medicine.
Vonzella completed a teaching fellowship through ACEP (American Academy of Emergency Physicians) in 2019. She was selected to be in the Academy of Medical Educators at BU School of Medicine 2 years ago, teaching doctoring classes to 1st and 2nd year medical students. Vonzella was recently named Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at BU School of Medicine June of this year!
She is currently on the ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians) Diversity and Inclusion committee and the BU Medical Group Diversity and Inclusion Council. She has worked with the SNMA (Student National Medical Association) at BU with suturing sessions and minority physician panels. She also works with BU medical students and BMC emergency medicine residents in pipeline programs exposing healthcare to Boston area minority college and high school students.
Vonzella presented her didactic “Increasing Diversity in Emergency Medicine: From Pipelines to Faculty Retention” this year at the CORD (Council of Residency Directors) and AAEM (American Academy of Emergency Medicine) national EM conferences this year. She was also featured in the US News article, “The Coronavirus Crisis Hits Home for a Boston ER Doctor” on May 21, 2020. Vonzella is currently the vice president of the New England Medical Association (NEMA), an affiliate of the National Medical Association. She lives with her husband, mother and 2 pre-teenager children and has a passion for increasing diversity in medicine, movies and hip hop music.