(TBI) patients, some with different kinds of dementia, and some with multiple sclerosis (MS). I usually had one to two patients at a time. I supplemented that work with being a food delivery person and worked as a nanny and housekeeper. Those were some wild days and hectic schedules. I loved it. I loved my patients but wanted to go to medical school and keep moving forward. I did not get any interviews the first time I inquired, so I applied for a postbaccalaureate to help “prove” I was ready for medical school. I busted my butt and made amazing friends at the University of California Davis’ postbaccalaureate program, geared toward pre-medical students from underserved and underrepresented groups. My boyfriend (now husband) stayed in San Diego and a long-distance relationship was hard, but we video chatted every day before the pandemic made it a thing! After postbaccalaureate, I returned to San Diego and resumed the previous work schedule while applying to medical school. During the next cycle, I finally got in. OH NO, NOW WHAT DO I DO?- I never envisioned anything beyond getting accepted; it had been my end goal for so long, but now I was a full decade older than most of my school peers. Yikes. But once again, I busted my butt. All credit goes to my nowhusband who was all things a good partner should be: supportive, motivating, would not let me wallow too long in self-hatred, would not let me get lazy, made me put on real pants, made me coffee for all those exam days, and reminded me to talk about things other than school/ medicine once in a while to make me feel like a person. And I did it – I completed medical school at Michigan State in Grand Rapids and made even more fantastic and lifelong friends. I also got married, and we started our family during this time. Whew. Adulthood, here I am, I made it. What are some factors that influenced your decision to become a doctor and pursue family medicine? I was drawn to providing medical care as a kid because every human being at some point needs help, and one of the most basic ways to provide that help is through medical care. My disadvantaged upbringing and experiences as an adult give me a unique perspective and connection with my intended patient population. I felt the most significant impact I can make as a physician is with people who share the same roots. When starting medical school, I still had a limited understanding of the various specialties. I knew that patients in underserved communities like mine often come to the emergency department (ED) as their source of primary care, so I looked first into emergency medicine and primary care. This quickly evolved into a strong passion for family medicine. The breadth of problems, age span, and the option of doing procedures appealed to my need for variety. It is essential to me that as a holisticminded physician, I can address physical health along with emotional and mental health, particularly in underserved communities where it may be challenging to make it to even one appointment consistently. This also fosters a stronger longitudinal relationship with the patient, as my team and I would be their “home base,” whether or not they need additional specialists. As relationships grow, I have more opportunities to counsel, educate, and provide preventative care and health maintenance. During clinical rotations, my favorite moments were spread out: the different outpatient clinics addressing prevention and chronic conditions counseling, complex cases in the operating room, completely unpredictable days in psych (where I worked with chronic mental health patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), and the ever-changing ED. Luckily for me, family medicine is a specialty that allows me to continue to have all these different experiences (this is what I jokingly refer to as my “professional FOMO”). What was it that drew you to apply for residency at the University of Utah? How has your experience been there? I previously applied to medical school here, mainly because we love winter sports and have a few friends out here. I decided to check it out for residency as well for similar reasons. There were several things I was specifically looking for in a residency and a few things that surprised me about Utah. I definitely wanted a blend of academic and community medicine, strong relationships with other residencies in the area, and strong obstetrics. What I was also looking for but was pleasantly surprised by in Utah was so much diversity (way more than expected,) a large refugee population, and transgender health care. What ultimately tipped the scales was the resident relationships and focus on resident wellness. The residents genuinely seemed to like each other, had such amazing things to say about each other and the residents we interact with from other programs. This program had the best quality of life focus of all the residencies I was seriously considering. We were now a family of three, so I had to consider the Resident Spotlight | Continued on page 18 17 |
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