The experience of being a first-generation physician within my immediate family will ultimately impact the patients and communities I will ultimately serve. I was fortunate enough to have some of my own parents’ professional experience passed onto me. I remember the feeling of being in the dermatologist’s office with my mother, waiting for her to be called back for her appointment, hearing about how she would learn about skin cancer and other medical conditions that could cause a person to develop this disease. It wasn’t a question of whether or not she was going to get skin cancer, it was when and how much treatment needed to be done on the areas affected. I can remember being in the operating room with my father, watching him tie knots in sutures and close wounds after surgeries on the head. He took me to the school where he received his residency training, which prepared him for his career as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. I can remember when I was younger being able to ask my mother about any medical situation or question I had. At 18 years old, I was able to have a brief meeting with her OB/GYN and get birth control since I was going off to college at the time. There is no doubt that this work impacted the two of them and they were willing to share their experiences with their children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, there are parents who are not willing to share such experiences.
It’s hard for me to imagine how my parents would feel if I were to become anything other than a medical professional. My whole life has been surrounded by medical professionals and their daily lives, which I have found very intriguing. I think my biggest advantage was going through college knowing that this is what I wanted to do. It made the decision of applying to medical school easier. There was no question of “What should I do after college?” For the most part, it was a given that when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in biology I would apply to medical school. This is where I was going.
While I was still in graduate school, it was becoming more apparent that my father’s decision to remain on the academic path was not going to be an easy decision for him. It wasn’t until later that I realized that there have been many other things in my father’s life besides medicine, but as soon as medical school started we found out what he had chosen to focus on instead of medicine. He stayed involved with his residency program at a hospital related to his residency training and became very active on the hospital board of directors. He began his own company, which made him very wealthy beyond my expectations.
As a first-generation physician, I have the opportunity to impact my own family in a unique way. My immediate family member who is a physician has not shared with me all of her professional experiences. She has told me about some of the different medical cases she has taken care of, but there is so much more that she has gone through. As I prepare for medical school, I can recall some of the questions that my parents had when they first started their careers and how they were able to overcome them. I consider it an honor and privilege to be able to share this experience with them. I know that my parents would have a hard time seeing me take another career path. They would not be able to understand how I would enjoy anything other than being a physician, taking care of people, and helping others in need. I hope that one day I will be able to finally see the whole picture of what my mother went through when she was just starting her medical career. She is a very private person who has not shared her medical experiences with me or my siblings, but she has allowed us to join her at certain events at the hospital so we can witness some of the things she does on a daily basis. As a first-generation physician in my immediate family, I have an opportunity to impact future generations.
