What does it take to pivot from professional athletics to a career in health care? For Donovan Gilmore — Class of 2027 — the answer lies in discipline, mentorship and a commitment to serving others.
Success doesn’t always follow a straight line.
The road to health care for Gilmore, a member of Meharry School of Dentistry Class of 2027, included Division I basketball, global entertainment as a Harlem Globetrotter, and a return to the classroom later than many of his peers.
In this episode of “Public Service Announcement,” Gilmore shares how resilience, mentorship and a commitment to helping others guided his transition from professional athlete to future dentist — and why his unconventional path may be exactly what the health care profession needs.
A Rural Road Leads to Life in Athletics
Gilmore grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, where athletics quickly became central to his identity.
Basketball felt like a natural path from an early age. “I was a pretty tall kid — about six feet in sixth grade, and it was just a no-brainer to play basketball,” he says.
What started as a physical advantage quickly became a foundation for personal development. The sport helped him build the habits that would later support his transition into health care.
“It did well for me,” he shares. “It really helped me build resilience, teamwork — a lot of skills that I actually use now.”
Through years of competition and training, Gilmore developed the discipline and persistence that define high-level athletics. Those experiences would later shape the mindset he brings to dental school, where long hours, preparation and teamwork are equally critical.
At the time, however, a career in health care wasn’t on his radar.
“It wasn't until I moved to Nashville in the height of COVID,” he shares, “sitting around the table with a lot of successful, Meharry graduates.”
During that conversation, a fellow former basketball player and Meharry alumnus, posed a simple question that changed everything
“If you can survive Division One ranks of any sport, you have what it takes,” Gilmore recalls him saying, “so why not become a doctor?” At that moment, Gilmore felt something stir internally. “The seed was planted, and it just sparked my mind.”
But before the pivot to pursue a career in medicine, Gilmore’s journey would take an extraordinary detour — one that placed him on one of the most recognizable stages in sports entertainment.
Before Health Care Came the Harlem Globetrotters
I actually thought I was done with basketball,” Gilmore jokes.
The opportunity arrived unexpectedly. Gilmore had already moved on from competitive basketball and at the time was building a career outside of sports.
“I was working at Enterprise Holdings,” he says. “I was running around washing cars in my shirt and tie, but I was doing well.”
Then he received a call asking if he would try out for the Harlem Globetrotters.
“And I was like, ‘Of course.’”
Attending the required week-long training camp meant quitting his day job with no guarantee of success. The opportunity required a leap of faith.
Despite arriving at the tryout while still recovering from a knee injury, Gilmore shares he performed well throughout the week.
“The one caveat,” he admits, “I wasn't able to spin the ball on my finger at the time.”
Still, the experience proved formative. Performing in front of audiences and representing one of basketball’s most iconic teams helped build confidence, discipline and charisma — traits that now serve him well in professional school and patient care.
The Power of Mentorship
Mentorship became a critical turning point in Gilmore’s transition from athletics to dentistry.
After deciding to explore health care, he reached out to a local dentist recommended by one of his mentors, but their first conversation was far from encouraging.
“It was a little rugged because I didn't know the information he thought I should have known,” he admits. “He came down hard on me, but it gave me a level of insight to understand the seriousness of what I was about to embark on.”
The next day, despite the doubt, Gilmore showed up at the dentist’s office and began to shadow him to learn more. During one patient interaction, his perspective shifted completely.
A young mother sat in the dental chair while her children waited in the lobby.
It just really felt like my mother was in that chair,” he shares.
After the procedure was completed, the patient expressed gratitude to both the dentist and Gilmore, assuming he was part of the care team.
“She looked up, and she's like, ‘Doctors, thank you.’” That moment solidified his direction. “Again, somebody saw something in me, saw me in this space,” Gilmore recalls. He knew then and there: “I want to be a dentist.”
From the Court to the Classroom
“The biggest thing that gave me the courage was seeing people believe in me in ways that I didn't,” he says. “For somebody to ask me, ‘Why wouldn't you become a doctor?’ That meant they saw that in me.”
Once he arrived at Meharry, Gilmore discovered something he hadn’t fully expected — a deep sense of belonging.
“The thing that was most unexpected was the level of connection that I was able to make with my colleagues and even professors and the school in general,” he shares. “When people say Meharry is a family, you know what family is — it's a lifelong connection.”
For Gilmore, that sense of community reflects the deeper mission of Meharry — to support students not only academically but personally and professionally.
Throughout his studies, Gilmore recognized the strong parallels between an elite athletic career and one in healthcare.
“The mindset for a successful athlete and a mindset for a successful doctor is very similar,” he explains. “A lot of early mornings, a lot of long hours, a lot of pushing your body and your mind to the limit.” Gilmore likens a top-tier sports team to the staff in every hospital. “The residents and the attendings, they're running around,” he says. “What they're doing is working as a team. Everyone has a role and I think the mindset is just so similar.”
Borrowing again from his time on the basketball court, his advice is to focus on your environment, your team and the people who believe in your potential.
“We never go just as far as our dream, we go as far as our team.”
Surrounding yourself with mentors, friends and colleagues who support your growth can make the difference between hesitation and achievement.
Gilmore encourages students and aspiring health care professionals to lean into challenges rather than avoid them.
“Whatever challenges that you're going to face, they were specifically designed for you. They weren't necessarily there to stop you or to sit you aside,” he offers. “They were there so that you could prepare forward because things don't become easier. We become stronger.”
And perhaps most importantly, he urges people to trust their instincts and pursue the dreams placed on their hearts.
“Sometimes you just have to have radical faith. You have to take that step,” he says. “The biggest things in life are on the other side of fear.”
Be sure to follow Public Service Announcement with Dr. James E.K. Hildreth on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. For more content like this, join the conversation online at mmc.edu/podcast.
