What have been impactful events that have led you to medicine?
In my undergraduate years at the University of Florida, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that I would end up going to medical school and becoming a physician. I knew I enjoyed science and physiology, but I had a few different career paths in mind in my freshman and sophomore years. It wasn’t until I volunteered at UF Health Shands Hospital that I realized what I wanted to pursue. My roommate at the time and I volunteered in the Pediatric Oncology ward supporting families and spending time with children who were admitted because of cancer-related illnesses. I distinctly remember wanting to be a part of the team that helped patients and their families with challenging illnesses, and I haven’t looked back since that experience.
What was the most difficult part of your pre-health career?
There have been a lot of difficult experiences I’ve experienced throughout my career so it’s difficult to choose just one. Each stage presented its own unique challenges, with each one being tough in its own way. As an undergraduate, I remember the stress of applying to medical school: studying for the MCAT, trying to make perfect grades, taking leadership positions in student groups, and working to afford rent. Then, once I was admitted to medical school and began coursework, the amount of knowledge I was expected to digest and process (“drinking from the firehose”) was demanding in a way that I hadn’t experienced in the past. Generally, balancing priorities and being efficient is challenging at any stage but gets magnified significantly as one transitions into medical school.
What helped guide you to where you are now?
The thing that helped guide me to my current career was my conviction that being a physician was what I wanted to do. Once I committed myself to taking this path, I did everything in my power to make sure that I didn’t fail. That’s not to say that I didn’t have help; I had significant help and mentorship to arrive where I am today. It simply means that I was more willing to solicit help from people I knew could help me in my journey because I was sure that this was the career I wanted to pursue.
What do you wish you knew 5 years ago?
I wish I knew how hard being a real adult was. I don’t think I would have changed a lot except to make sure to stop and smell the proverbial roses at each stage of my training.
If you could start over, what would you change?
Knowing what I know now about my career, I would probably take more time to seek out research in medical school. Medical school is hard enough as it is, but I think it would have been beneficial for me to begin to participate in research before I began my residency training.
Did you have a specific mentor that inspired you to get to where you are now?
Since my undergraduate year, I’ve had too many mentors to count and focusing on any single would be a disservice to all of them. From professors in medical school to my longitudinal rotation mentor; from physicians I admired during residency training to residency leadership. All of them have played a role and have reaffirmed my belief that this is the profession for me. Without all of them taking time out of their day to help me, I am certain I would never have made it to where I am now.
What is the best advice you could give someone pursuing the same track as you?
The best advice I could give to someone pursuing the same track as me would be twofold:
First, try your best to experience the medical profession in different settings. Medicine is quite different depending on where you practice, what specialty you’re in, who your patients are, and what your role on the treatment team is. It’s one thing to want to go to a medical professional school. Arguably, it’s more important to have a vision of what you’d like to do for your career and make decisions to achieve that goal.
Second, don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. No one in the medical profession is so unique or so talented that they instantly rose to the top of their profession without any help. All of us have received assistance and training of some kind along the way, and the majority of us are happy to help cultivate the next generation of healthcare providers. As long as you’re willing to put in the work to achieve your goals, we’ll be willing to help you get there.