Dr. Patrice Harris was sworn in as the 174th president of the American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday, making her the first Black woman to lead the prestigious organization. In her inauguration speech, Harris said it was a dream come true.

“A dream my ancestors, parents, my extended family, and my friends supported before it even entered my imagination," she told the crowd. "A dream my West Virginia, Georgia, psychiatry and AMA families helped me achieve. And I know in my heart that, tonight, I am my ancestors' wildest dreams.”

Harris, a psychiatrist from Atlanta, will reportedly focus her tenure on three strategic areas: removing burdens that interfere with patient care; reimagining medical education and training and confronting the chronic disease crisis to help improve the health of the nation.

“We face big challenges in health care today, and the decisions we make now will move us forward in a future we help create," Harris said during her inaugural speech in Chicago. “We are no longer at a place where we can tolerate the disparities that plague communities of color, women, and the LGBTQ community. But we are not yet at a place where health equity is achieved in those communities."

Harris says that although underrepresented groups are welcome in medicine, society isn't yet at a place where these groups are graduating, or even entering medical schools when compared to their peers. She hopes her inauguration will be "tangible evidence" for young boys and girls of color that they too can become physicians.

"The saying ‘if you can see it, you can believe it’ is true," she said

"While we have many differences, at the AMA, we have this common goal: Through this great organization, we believe we can uplift our profession, we believe we can improve care for all of our 300-plus million fellow Americans, and we believe we can stand as leaders in health care across the globe," Harris told the inauguration crowd.

Watch Harris's full inauguration speech below:

AMA

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