Dr. Rene’ Settle-Robinson

by Kia Marie Green
Armed with determination and the memories of her mother, she set out for success.

Her chosen career path: podiatry.

"Choosing the field of podiatry was an evolution for me," she said. "I feel God intended this path for me."

For Dr. Rene’ Settle-Robinson, the road to success wasn’t easy, but after years of struggle, strife and hard work, victory was destined.

Dr. Settle-Robinson is a double board certified Podiatric Surgeon with the Aurora Medical Group, servicing Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and Fox Point.

Her list of accomplishments are great: She is the former seven-year president of Milwaukee’s Cream City Medical Society, a service organization for African American doctors.

She has served as assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, where she was the second African American faculty member.

Additionally, she has been an instructor with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee teaching a pre-med course, designed for undergraduate minorities pursuing a career in medicine.

She has also served as assistant director of residency training at Northwest General Hospital in Milwaukee, until its closing in 2000.

A member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the chairman of the Health Committee for the local branch of the NAACP, Dr. Settle-Robinson has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Milwaukee Times Black Excellence Award, Legacies in Leadership Award from the Black Women’s Network and the Interfaith Dignity Award from the Central City Interfaith Churches.

Most recently, Governor Doyle appointed Dr. Settle-Robinson to the Podiatrists Affiliated Credentialing Board of the State of Wisconsin, whereby she will approve licensing for hopeful podiatric doctors throughout the state.

Humbled and grateful for the many blessing bestowed upon her, this local foot doctor has walked one long road to success, always holding on to one prayer.

"I prayed that God would let me get through so that I could open the doors for others," she said.

But before the awards, accolades and accomplishments, even before she was able to "reach the door," Dr. Rene’ Settle-Robinson was a daughter fighting to fulfill her mother’s dying request.

At the tender age of 14, Dr. Settle-Robinson lost her mother. A registered nurse and mother of seven, Dr. Settle-Robinson’s mother was determined to provide for her family.

In fact, on her deathbed, she made her dying wish known to her daughter, "take care of the kids," she told young Rene’.

She wanted all of her children to go on to school and obtain advanced degrees and it was Dr. Settle-Robinson’s job to see to it.

Leading by example, Dr. Settle-Robinson took the proverbial bull by the horns.

An emancipated adult by the age 16, she worked and paid her own tuition at St. Mary’s Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Los Angeles.

While in high school, she even enrolled in college courses at Los Angeles Southwest College, where she completed 21 units of college credits before even graduating high school.

By age 18, Dr. Settle-Robinson had moved into her first apartment and was holding down a fulltime job, while going to school fulltime.

"I called myself practicing being grown," she joked. "I figured if my mama could do those things, then I could too."

Like her mother, by age 20, Dr. Settle-Robinson was a licensed nurse, a career she maintained to pay for college.

Dr. Settle-Robinson obtained an Associate of Arts degree with honors in General Studies from Los Angeles Southwest College. She started and headed the organization for Minorities in Science and Engineering on the Loyola Marymount University campus, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.

She went on to attend the California College of Podiatric Medicine (CCPM), where she faced racism as an African American woman.

Cherishing her mother’s legacy, Dr. Settle-Robinson remembered her mother’s words: "You will have to be twice as good to get half the credit." She wasn’t deterred.

In fact, she was motivated. "I did two times what my classmates did," she said.

Dr. Settle-Robinson was determined to succeed and there were many who helped her along the way, including the African American janitorial staff and at CCPM who would open doors after hours so that she could study cadavers or hand her a midnight snack.

"There’s a strong sense of responsibility," she said "because I am where I am because of all the African Americans who helped me along the way."

While at CCPM, Dr. Settle-Robinson tutored anatomy and was active in the minority student organization. She went on to become the National President of the Student National Podiatric Medicine Association.

In 1981, she obtained a second Bachelor’s degree in Basic Medical Sciences and two years later, she received her Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, becoming the fifth African American woman to do so in the schools 66-year history.

She went on for advanced training at St. Bernard’s Hospital in Chicago and became the first African American woman trained in foot surgery in the state of Illinois and among the first five African American women in the country to receive such training.

The mother of eight and grandmother of 12 is an advocate for education and a champion for eliminating healthcare disparities.

Along with her husband, Dr. Settle-Robinson is active in the National Coalition of ESEA Title 1 Parents. Additionally, through the National Colloquiums on African American Healthcare she has lobbied senators and congressman to improve funding of programs to eliminate healthcare disparities and increase diversity in the healthcare workforce.

A master foot surgeon, advocate for equal education and healthcare and a dedicated mother, Dr. Rene’ Settle-Robinson has never been one to let obstacles stand in the way.

"There is one saying that has helped me through," she said, "‘obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.’"

And while for many, her obstacles may have been far too great to overcome, for Dr. Settle-Robinson, her challenges were merely motivational tools for success.

After all, she was armed with determination and memories of her mother.

Success was foreordained.