His thesis for this degree was "Consideration of Four Major Handicaps to Normal Growth and Development of the Rural Negro Child of Certain Southern States."

He left the army as a lieutenant colonel having earned a bronze star for his work in reducing malaria infections among the troops.

In 1947, Senior Surgeon Poindexter was appointed posted to the Mission to Liberia as chief of laboratory and medical research in West Africa.

[6] He went on to serve in various other countries including Vietnam, Suriname, Iraq, Libya, and Sierra Leone before returning to the faculty of Howard University.

[7] During his tenure at Howard, Pondexter mentored a number of notable younger scientists, such as Jane Hinton, the co-developer of the Mueller-Hinton agar, and Ruth Ella Moore.

[8] Poindexter published his autobiography, My World Of Reality, in 1973 in which he candidly discusses his various life experiences including dealings with racial prejudice.