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Rosalyn P. Scott (born 1950) is an African-American thoracic surgeon known for her work in education. She is the first African-American woman to become a thoracic surgeon.

Early life and education
Scott was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey and was inspired to become a physician by both her father and uncle. Her father was a dentist, and his dental office was the source of Scott's early exposure to medicine, where she helped on Saturday mornings by cleaning dental instruments, editing information on charts, and organizing patient documents. Scott's father suffered from a heart attack when she was in the third grade. However, he lived through it and later encouraged Scott to become a surgeon. Not only was Scott inspired by her father, but her uncle was a thoracic surgeon and President of the hospital he worked in Chicago. In Troy, New York, Scott attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for her undergraduate education, and earned a bachelors degree in chemistry in 1970. She then moved on to the New York University School of Medicine, and graduated in 1974. She remained in New York City for internships and residency at both St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center and St. Clare's Hospital and Health Center. Scott continued her residency as a thoracic surgeon at Boston University Medical Center in 1977. She then returned to New York City from Boston for residencies at St. Clare's Hospital and Health Center, once again, and New York Medical College, where she specialized in cardiac surgery and general surgery residencies. By doing this, Scott became the first African American woman to establish a residency in cardiothoracic surgery. Scott continued her training in cardiovascular surgery as a fellow at the Texas Heart Institute, where she was the first ever to receive the Mary A. Fraley cardiovascular fellowship in 1980.

Career
After completing her postgraduate education, Scott was appointed an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical School, where she stayed until 1983. Then, she became a professor at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the University of California, Los Angeles. There, she researched health care disparities affecting people with cardiovascular disease and lung cancer, and occupational stress affecting surgeons. In 1987, she left UCLA, and in 2007, she left Drew for Wright State University.

Throughout Scott's career, she has been a pioneer for African-American women in her field. The first African-American woman thoracic surgeon, she was also the first African-American woman to be admitted to the Society of University Surgeons. She co-founded two organizations to support other surgeons and encourage students to fight discrimination: the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, founded in 1986, and the Association of Black Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons, founded in 1999.

Honors and awards

 * The first African American woman to be trained in thoracic surgery (1977)
 * The first Mary A. Fraley Fellow, Texas Heart Institute (1980)
 * Founding member, Society of Black Academic Surgeons (1986)
 * First African American women to become a member of the Society of University Surgeons (1995)
 * Founding member, Association of Black Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (1999)
 * Former President, Women in Thoracic Surgery