What are your current career goals, and how do you see yourself contributing to the healthcare field in the long term?

My career goals have always been to strive to be the warmest person my patients meet that day whether it is a check-up visit or one of the worst days of their lives. Clinical care has always been at the center of my vision as a physician. Of course, along the way I’ve found that I like teaching and research which have been little presents for me. Medicine is interesting because there are so many ways to contribute to healthcare that evolve as you evolve as a person and clinician. 

Can you share a particularly challenging moment during medical school and how you overcame it? What would you do or tell yourself during times of stress like this? 

There was one particular moment on the medicine rotation where I had come off of a black weekend and finished a really hard admitting day with difficult feedback. I came home and cried. So much of that day was outside of my control and frustrating to me. I think this actually became a really important stimulus for me as I began to try and divide things that are inside my control and outside my control. If it was inside my control, it got 100% of my attention. If it was outside of my control, I tried my best (and am still working on) reducing the energy I spend. Journaling every day to reflect on my emotions and thoughts was also critical in this context.

When did you realize medicine was your passion? When are you reminded that medicine is your passion?

I think oddly enough the first time I realized this career was a good fit for me was when I was volunteering in the radiology department as a college student. It was such a simple task to check patients into the waiting room but brought me so much joy. I thought if I could enjoy something as simple as this, I would love patient care. The moments that I loved the most in medical school were the ones where I spent time face to face with patients: comforting a stroke patient who lost their speech, seeing a patient regain their vision after cataract surgery, or celebrating a pediatric cardiac transplant patient’s discharge after a long stay at the hospital. Having the chance to share these moments with our patients is such a privilege.

What is one thing you would do differently if you could restart your career? 

I think I would have tried to embrace the challenges and obstacles a little bit more. This journey has been one with anxiety provoking high-stakes moments and some very long nights for me. However, I believe that because of this I grew so much throughout the process to the point where I can almost no longer recognize myself. For example, instead of seeing a frustrating circumstance, I have been trying more and more to see it as an opportunity to practice patience. The 18-year-old pre-med James would be very proud to see how far we have come since then.