Pediatrics remained his primary focus until a surgical rotation in his third year prompted an unexpected detour. To that point, he’d viewed surgery as an ill-fit due to personality concerns rooted in the stereotype that surgeons can be arrogant and aloof. He also held what he now admits was a “naïve” belief that there was little opportunity for continuity of care. Imagine his surprise when an early foray into the operating room left him exhilarated.
“Whoa! I love this!” he related of the moment his career pivoted in a new direction. “I was completely captivated by what was happening regardless of how big or small the operation: the critical thinking and the conversations and all the judgment calls you have to make, and obviously the technical skill being demonstrated.”
That revelation was accompanied by the realization that his journey would take much longer than the seven years of medical school and residency he’d imagined as an aspiring pediatrician.
“God had a different plan,” Fleming asserted. “I fell in love with surgery.”
Affirmed and affirming
That passion has never waned, though he acknowledged many difficult days in which McDade’s words again helped to sustain him.
At UVA, Fleming was on duty for two tragedies that gained national attention: the 2017 Charlottesville car attack resulting in one death and dozens of injuries and a 2022 shooting that left three students dead and two wounded. He assumed a leadership role advocating for others in the aftermath of the 2017 attack, leading to recognition by UVA Health with a system-wide award named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“I became an agent for change at UVA,” Fleming stated. “I wanted to make the place safer for me and for other residents and trainees who looked like me and for the students coming up behind us. I didn’t want Charlottesville to be that place on the map that people avoided because of what happened.”
In striving to foster a more caring, inclusive environment, Fleming drew on his Berry experience, assisting with food drives and other outreach in the Charlottesville community.
“It was just the Bonner Scholar in me, to be honest,” he said. “Whenever I see a problem or something I have the capacity to change, I try to do it.”
Similar motivation fuels his efforts in the O.R. Whether performing a “Kasai” procedure on a newborn to improve the flow of bile from the liver to the intestines or the “Foker” process of gently applying traction to induce growth in an incomplete esophagus, he is leveraging his skills to the benefit of others.
“The bonds you create with your patients as a surgeon are very, very special,” he expressed. “They come to you with a specific problem, and you are able to go into the operating room and fix that problem.”
With his fellowship fast drawing to a close, Fleming is actively exploring opportunities to specialize in such pediatric surgical areas as thoracic, colorectal and robotics, excited by the prospect of taking the next steps in his career and life as husband to Candice and father of Tré, 2. Down the road, he doesn’t rule out a return to St. Kitts and remains committed to serving his island through health care in the future.
Wherever he winds up, Fleming assuredly will be referred to in heroic terms by patients and families grateful for his life-saving care. While undeniably proud of how far he’s come, he pushes back at that notion, humbly concluding, “I’m just trying to do good work. That’s all.”
