While chasing a dream, you will never be walking down the
path of least resistance. Yet somehow we gather the chards of broken
confidence, glue them together with a little hope, pray with a lot of faith,
and work until things can't not work out.
And just sometimes the stars align and we get lucky, to no fault of our own.
I always knew I wanted to work in medicine. I was never
squeamish. Rather the opposite, the more I learned about the body and health,
the more I thirsted to know more.
When I was 13 years old I injured my knee playing basketball
outside, and for a few months we were not sure what was wrong. I began
searching on the Internet for signs and symptoms. Then after returning from the
doctor with the diagnosis of a torn cruciate ligament and planned surgery, I went home dejected.
The bright side was I was given lots of handouts and literature about surgery
and recovery. I read those cover to cover hundreds of time and still have them to
this day. My medical mind started becoming curious.
That next year I enrolled at Mayfield High School. I saw a spot
open for a sports medicine class. The instructor, and eventually one of my
mentors, Doc Acklin AT-C invited me to drop the class because it was for
juniors and seniors. I somehow convinced him I would not only get an A, I would
show I knew more than his upperclassmen. I was called "freshmen"
every day of my that class for a year but it seemed a small price to pay to be
in an environment learning about medicine.
As a junior I was working as a teacher's aide and ran into
the Romanelli family. I became their nanny, although that was just the beginning
of the support they gave me. Their father, Dan, was an orthopedic surgeon. I
remember watching the kids, and as they were busy with homework or playing with
other friends, I would quickly grab the American Journal of Medicine or ABOS he
had laying around and read them cover to cover. I would look up the things I
didn't understand and take notes on the things I did.
Playing college basketball, I spent far too much time in the
athletic training room as many can attest to. From nursing my injuries to
trying to pep talks to my friends, it always seemed like a place for healing. I
had a bad back injury between my freshmen and sophomore years which ended up
with me having three back surgeries, a serious infection, and quite a long
summer in and out of the hospital. Throughout that time, I took silent notes
about the whole process and the painful side of healing from the patient's
perspective. I never want to go back to that summer, but it convinced me even
more that medicine was what I wanted to do.
Jump to 2013. I had just graduated from New Mexico State
University with a degree in Kinesiology and business. I had been back from serving
a LDS mission in Argentina a few months previous. Knowing there wasn't much left in Las Cruces
for me, I found a job at a private orthopedic surgery clinic in Salt Lake City
UT. I knew I wanted to go to grad school but couldn't decide between medical school
and physician assistant schooling. It was a decision that tugged at my heart every
day. My supervising physician, who I hold great respect for, told me every day
I should go to medical school and that I'd be a great doctor. I didn't doubt
that, but didn't feel at ease with that answer.
After months of deep reflection and prayers, I knew becoming
a physician assistant was what I wanted to do. I had met other physician’s
assistant who loved their jobs and inspired me- Mahli Michael, Raul Rios,
Lindsey Marshall, Anna Peterson, and Karen Gunter. I want more than anything to
be a great wife and mother. Call me traditional, but I know mothering a family
is one of the most sacred and special callings we can have in this life. I
didn't want that to take backseat to a job as a physician. Could it have worked
out to do both? Absolutely, people do it all the time. But I never wanted to
have to make that choice to take ER call or spend the night with my sick child.
Wanting to help coach my kid's basketball team but knowing I had to still work
full time to pay off the 10 years of medical school debt would be hard for me.
I want to be a wife and mother first, and a health practitioner second. Plus you can switch specialties and settings,
work in a team with a physician, and have shorter time in school. Physician
assistant was a win-win for me.
January 2014. I started back to school to take some
necessary prerequisites. Two weeks later I got in a head on collision with a
driver who ran a stop sign. I tried to keep up with church responsibilities,
full time work, and school but was falling apart physically and
emotionally. I couldn't keep up and
didn't get the help I needed with the instructor and failed the class and lab-
something I had never done in my entire life. I re took it in the summer along
with a few others.
Right as summer semester ended I began writing my essays and
finishing PA applications but got injured again (almost 6 months to the day).
In a freak accident on my mountain bike, I tumbled down the side of a mountain
after a bad calculated placement of my rear tire on a narrow single track
trail. With just a few stitches and a cracked helmet, I walked away
miraculously much better than I should of. But as the days passed, I realized
the concussion I sustained was not going to go away as quickly as I had hoped-
actually it was getting worse. Memory loss, paralyzing anxiety, and constant
headaches became the common side effects that didn't want to go away. Still
attending school and balancing all my same responsibilities, I pressed on and
submitted my applications for PA school. I turned everything in right on the
deadline, hoping for a miracle.
January 2015. After months of waiting, I came to the
conclusion that nothing was going to happen this year. I was completely
devastated. I had worked so hard, done so much volunteering, taken so many
classes, spent so much money on these PA applications. After a heart wrenching
breakup with a boyfriend and having the rejection letters arrive in the mail
weekly, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and get back to work. Still
struggling with lingering concussion side effects, I enrolled in 12 credits of
classes and a GRE prep class on the side. Maybe at least making yourself swim
in deep water would build strong endurance?
Fast forward to now. I survived that spring semester, barely
survived summer, but at least I can live to tell about it. During the summer I
worked on perfecting the applications (with help from my savvy dad) and submitted as soon as the new cycle
opened. Although I was still struggling with self-doubt and lingering
concussion effects, I had faith it wasn't permanent. I started volunteering as
a temple ordinance worker, something that was vital for pulling me out of the
hole I had dug for myself. And guess what? Slowly and surely I started hearing
back from PA schools.
The first interview I went to Boston and had the trip of a
lifetime with Erin my sister and visiting our great aunt Laurel Thatcher
Ulrich. Everything with the interview couldn't have gone better and I felt it was
where I needed to be. I interviewed with the medical director (who is a high up
MD at MGH and Harvard, originally from Mexico) and connected well with him and
did some of the interview in Spanish. I had many good confirmations in various
ways in the weeks that passed. When I received the email of acceptance, I
dropped to the side of my desk at work and prayed; I gave thanks to my Maker.
How could something so wonderful happen to me? Why did I deserve such mercy?
To somewhat confirm my feelings on Boston before I accepted
(spoiler), I went to interview at University of Maryland. I was taken off guard
when as soon as I sat down on the flight to the east coast- I heard the words
"you know this isn't where you are supposed to be" flash into my
mind. It was still a great trip as I visited a close childhood friend and his
wife- Mark and Olivia Guthrie. I was grateful for the opportunity to not only
visit dear friends but confirm that I had already received the answer in my
heart to where I was to go.
Which brings me to now. The day after the interview (while
still in Baltimore), I put down the enrollment deposit and accepted at
Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Since then I've
felt a rollercoaster of emotions- fear, feeling of inadequacy, worry about
being so far from home, worry if this little New Mexican girl can make it in a
big town and hospital in New England. But yet again I was humbled when on my
weekly Park City commute I was listening to a podcast and had the distinct impression-
"Emily, you are lacking faith". So there, ok God I get it haha.
Working on that faith thing…
Until then I'm working with my orthopedic surgery group,
enjoying the beauty of Utah (snowboarding and biking), spending time with many
amazing friends, enjoying the time living close to Erin, working at the temple,
serving in my ward/congregation, reading all the books I have stacked up on the
side of my bed, soaking up as many opportunities to learn new talents and
skills before my free time disappears. Oh yeah also important- trying to snag a
good guy who will be my best friend in this life adventure.
So thank you to those who are mentioned above. And so many
who should be mentioned who aren't. There have been countless prayers offered by my
family, earthly angel friends and roommates, amazing leaders and mentors I have
been so blessed with throughout the way. God never gave up on me although at times I had given up on myself. I don’t think I have ever felt so
grateful for my trials and where they have taken me. Although chasing this
dream has not been the path of least resistance, it never is. Cheers to Boston
2016 and the new adventures ahead!
|
Doctorin' since 1993 |