My career goal is to be a podiatric surgeon! I am currently a third-year podiatric medical student at Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago. After completing a 4-year program I will receive my Doctor of Podiatric Medicine and enter a 3-year residency. Over the past three years at Scholl, I have matured both personally and intellectually. I am confident a career in podiatry will fulfill my aspirations for an intellectual challenge, my desire to restore health in others, and offer me opportunities in which I can specialize.

Upon entering college, I placed myself on the pre-med track. I was taking the most difficult and challenging courses I had experienced thus far, I found that learning how we function as basic living organisms fascinated me. After graduating from MSU I took a gap year to explore all the options that were available to me. I spent the first summer after graduation shadowing different healthcare professionals in hope that I could find my passion. It was through these opportunities that I was able to gain valuable experiences and ultimately discover my passion for podiatry. I solidified my decision to pursue podiatry after shadowing Dr. Andrea Simons, DPM. I observed her from the initial encounter with patients, to diagnosing their conditions, providing orthotics, and performing surgery.

Growing up in a Hispanic family, the Spanish language had always been a big part of my life, but I had never learned to speak it. During my time at MSU I chose to study Spanish and study abroad in Spain to complete my Spanish minor. Early on in my study abroad, I woke up with my right hand so swollen I could not bend my fingers. Once I reached the hospital, I attempted to explain what was happening, using the best Spanish I could. However, through the tears, my Spanish was not at its best. After a minute, the receptionist told me to wait, when she returned, she had a man following her. The man immediately introduced himself to me, in English, as a doctor. In that moment of panic and worry, being able to speak with this doctor felt like a saving grace.

That moment confirmed why becoming a physician who also speaks Spanish is so important. I learned that building a relationship with your patients is integral to the healing process. And to build that relationship you must be able to communicate with those patients who do not speak English. I want to help Hispanics that cannot communicate with their doctor due to the language barrier.

My time at MSU gave me the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities including getting involved in research, joining the professional chemistry fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma, and volunteering at Cristo Rey Community Center.

I learned about podiatry through a classmate in Alpha Chi Sigma! She was a year ahead of me at MSU and started podiatry school the year before me. I saw through social media what she was doing and messaged her for more information. We ended up talking for a while on the phone while she explained what podiatry school is and how I should go about applying. That is how I ended up shadowing a podiatrist a few weeks later and falling in love with the profession!

I also spent my free time volunteering at Cristo Rey Community Center in Lansing. The main language spoken at this community center is Spanish, so it was a great way to give back to my community while also having an opportunity to speak Spanish every week.

Take a deep breath and be patient. I graduated without a clear goal of where I wanted to go next with my degree. But through a lot of job shadowing and reaching out to classmates, I found my passion and my future profession.

MSU USNDA is a registered student organization that aims to provide guidance and exposure to dentistry. We focus on increasing diversity and the retention of minority students within the field of dentistry. Lastly, we strive to establish relationships between our USNDA chapter and SNDA chapters at various dental schools. MSU USNDA is able to achieve these goals by:

Connect with MSU USNDA by visiting @MSUUSNDA on Instagram and @MSU USNDA on Facebook.