Black, female, first generation college grad

I’ve always had a deep interest in the way the body functions. After a bad fall, I had my first real experience into the medical world. It opened my eyes to the disconnect medicine has with communities it serves. I ultimately wanted to share my knowledge back to my own community and be a patient advocate for those who are overlooked in the medical system.

Pursuing higher education was never a priority in my community; socioeconomic factors often pushed people into the workforce in lieu of continued education. The idea of spending the next decade of my life pursuing education and medical training with mounting student loans was commonly ridiculed by friends, family, and former employers.

My calling into medicine was instilled in me after seeing firsthand the barriers and historical distrust that has affected my immediate community and many of my own family members. One of the most influential experiences was watching my grandmother’s eyesight deteriorate over the years. Her experiences growing up had instilled an understandable aversion towards healthcare institutions that ultimately deterred her from seeking continued treatment for her macular degeneration. In addition, with limited eyesight, specialist availability, and economic constraints, the barriers to receiving proper care started to become insurmountable from where she stood. Having a very limited understanding of the healthcare infrastructure and concepts such as healthcare access, while growing up, the gravity of my grandmother’s situation wasn’t fully appreciated until later in my training. Today, it serves as a motivation for me to pursue a practice that addresses the disparities and mistrust that create barriers to equitable healthcare access.

I’m still exploring the many options in PM&R. I have an interest regenerative medicine, ultrasound, and inpatient medicine.