After Being Dismissed by Doctors, Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell Nearly Lost Her Life — Now She’s Fighting to Make Sure No One Else Is Ignored
Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell knows what it feels like to be unheard — even in a place where she should have been safest. Before she became a respected physician and advocate, she was a young medical student facing a mystery that nearly took her life. What began as small, strange symptoms slowly became a health crisis — one that taught her the painful reality of what it means to be dismissed by the very system she would one day work to change.
“I noticed that my joints were swollen,” she recalled in her interview with People. “Then I just felt exhausted all the time. And my hair started to fall out.” As her symptoms worsened, she went to multiple doctors seeking help, only to be told again and again that it was probably stress, or that she was overreacting. “You start to question yourself,” she admitted. “You think, maybe I am imagining this. Maybe I just need rest.”
But it wasn’t in her head. It was lupus — a serious autoimmune disease that can damage the body’s organs if left untreated. By the time she finally received a diagnosis, the disease had already taken a toll. “It nearly killed me,” Dr. Bayo said quietly. “And it changed everything about how I practice medicine today.”
Her experience revealed a truth she now dedicates her career to addressing: that women, particularly women of color, are too often dismissed or underestimated by the medical system. Research backs her up — studies have shown that women’s symptoms are more likely to be minimized, misdiagnosed, or attributed to anxiety. For Dr. Bayo, this wasn’t just a statistic; it was a lived experience that almost cost her her future.
Instead of letting bitterness take root, she turned her pain into purpose. Today, as an urgent care medical director and founder of Beyond Clinical Walls, Dr. Bayo works tirelessly to close the gap between patients and providers. She uses her voice to advocate for awareness, education, and empathy in healthcare. “When patients come to me,” she said, “I listen — even if what they’re describing doesn’t fit neatly into a box. I never want someone to leave my office feeling like I didn’t believe them.”
Her advocacy doesn’t stop in the clinic. Through social media and public health initiatives, she educates others about systemic inequities and how they affect everyday care. She has become a trusted figure for patients who have felt unseen or unheard. “I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through,” she explained. “If I can make one person feel validated — if I can help one patient get the diagnosis they deserve — then what I went through will mean something.”
Now, at 46, she looks back on that frightening time with clarity and strength. “It taught me humility,” she reflected. “Doctors aren’t infallible, and patients aren’t problems to solve — they’re people to listen to.”
Her story has inspired thousands who have faced similar struggles. Messages pour in from patients who’ve been dismissed, thanking her for giving their experiences a voice. For Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, that is what keeps her going. “This journey started with pain,” she said. “But it gave me purpose. And that’s something I’ll never take for granted.”
