On the Fluidity of Self-Discovery:
It was eventually a very intuitive decision [deciding to pursue medical school], but I did not see it coming. I’ve always known that I couldn’t dance forever - I experienced several injuries and was constantly in physical therapy and, looking back, I think some of these experiences helped guide me into medicine. One time, I was trying to avoid ankle surgery and the [practitioner] ordered this special brace for me that was meant to go into a football cleat and they said, “you can put it in your pointe shoe, right?” and I was like, you guys have no idea what you’re talking about. No! Absolutely not! It was the most non-functional brace for my situation and could have been avoided had the practitioner listened and considered my needs. Years later, I found out about this “magical doctor” in the North Bay (I was living in San Francisco at the time) and he was an osteopathic physician who primarily treated with OMM. He truly listened to me and watched me execute both movements of daily living and dance steps that caused me pain. We ended up, through OMM and prolotherapy injections, giving me the ability to dance for another three years! So, not perfect, not painless but able to extend my career. I remember by the end of that first session with the DO I was like, how do I become you?
On Personal Motivation:
OMM and the hands-on interaction with people is definitely where my heart is. I feel like that initial inspiration from [the DO] in California is still driving me through the harder moments of medical school. Separately from that, I have friends who have had terrible experiences with some physicians over the years. Friends who are people of color and LGBTQI people who will, understandably, not go to certain doctors because they have been treated poorly due to physician bias and ignorance. In whatever specialty I end up practicing, I would like to find a way to advocate for and be accessible to populations that have been historically mistreated by medical practitioners. This motivates me to listen to people from these communities, study history, and encourage others to do the same.
On Impact and Responsibility:
I want to push myself to challenge the way that I receive, interact with, and navigate my environment by critically questioning thought processes, social norms, everything! I am trying to never just passively accept the way it has always been. As future physicians, we have so much societal power and responsibility, and I think that we are taking on a weight that maybe not everyone really truly appreciates. The more we can stop and examine what we’re doing, think for ourselves - is this necessary, effective, appropriate? – we’ll be better able to serve our patients. Whether we agree with each other or not, there’s going to be a thoughtfulness that is demonstrated for people who are watching.
"There’s going to be thoughtfulness that we’re demonstrating for people who are watching"