I still remember the first wound debridement I saw. I was spending my first summer interning at my podiatry clinic before becoming a medical assistant (and now a podiatry student). The wounded patient in question had a large ulcer over the top of his foot with bone exposed. I was curious how someone would be treated in a condition like this. This led me to ask the patient and his doctor if I could watch. They enthusiastically agreed, but, despite wearing a mask to hide my reactions, I nearly puked by the end. This patient had neuropathy, but not as advanced as many individuals I have seen since. I still remember the sounds and how sickened I felt for this poor man. I do not recall the outcome, but I know he eventually passed away before my next summer of work. There were two key elements at play here. 1. This patient had a long history of smoking cigarettes in copious volumes. 2. If I recall correctly, he had diabetes. Since Mr. John Doe, I have seen a large amount of non-healing wounds triggered by alcoholism, dependency on cigarettes, obesity, and diabetes, or a combination of all. It is sickening and saddening to watch them decline in their health. The amount of time I have spent in patient rooms providing resources for intervention is almost unbelievable. I care about these issues because I have seen them firsthand. I have witnessed what substance abuse and diabetes do to people. I will treat the neuropathy, the ulcers, and Charcot foot, but I want to treat the person, not simply the malady at hand. From nutrition education to providing options for patients to get help, I will do my best for any individual under my care. Change is incredibly difficult, and I can empathize with those who are unable to do so. I hope to have a space where people are comfortable to ask me for help without fear of judgment. Without treating the root issues in these patients, secondary conditions will continue to develop. Yes, as a podiatrist it will keep me in business, but I would rather be out of a job and for people to have lasting relief from chronic issues. That is why I have chosen to become a doctor. I want to help people have better lives, not use them at their most vulnerable. These issues will likely not disappear during my lifetime, but more options are becoming available for treatment. For secondary conditions, we now have nerve decompression surgeries and placental grafts. These were not options in the past and are making significant improvements on patient quality of life. I've seen it firsthand, but prevention is the best medicine. I fully believe that if substance abuse and diabetes were to "be solved" the level of incidence of peripheral neuropathy and non-healing wounds would decrease. This is critical not just for my line of work, but for many others in the medical field.

I've always known that I wanted to be a doctor. It sounds like a cliche statement, but it is the truth. The career I knew, but the specialty was something I struggled with for years. It wasn't until my junior year of college and the summer after that it finally clicked. During my junior year of college, I had the privilege of working with human donors in a cadaver dissection course. I was fascinated with all I had discovered about the human body during the completion of this dissection and realized I wanted to do more of it. I knew I would during medical school, but what school should I go for? I fought and fought with the idea of different fields, shadowing for my reproductive endocrinologist, and continuing my internship for my podiatry clinic. I was stuck. That is, until I saw a nerve decompression surgery. While I normally sat in the back of the OR during surgery, I slowly crept up behind Dr. Howell's shoulder. Although I was hesitant to get that close in terms of the sterile field, Dr. Howell explained what he was doing and explained how the process of nerve entrapment worked. To say I was held completely transfixed was an understatement. It was the same small, smooth adjustments to better expose a tissue that I had done a month prior. This time, instead of learning from it, it would help a patient suffering from years of chronic pain. That day, I cried on the way home from work. Although I had been tossing around the idea of podiatry, it finally hit me that that's what I wanted to do. The integration of biomechanics, neurology, endocrinology, nutrition, and other fields would allow me to never feel bored. I can help relieve patients from pain and connect with people, all while studying areas of science that fascinate me. How amazing of an opportunity is that? I proceeded to apply to podiatry school and got into my dream program. After graduating from Western Oregon University in June with my B.S. in Biology with a Chemistry minor and an Honors Diploma, I will be moving across the country to Iowa. In August I start my program at Des Moines University, where I will graduate in 2030 with my Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Degree (DPM). Now I will be able to pursue this dream that was beginning to come to fruition in the anatomical dissection course. The road there was not always easy, though. 41 days before my MCAT I was in a car accident. I lost the use of my dominant arm after tearing my shoulder muscles. When I would pick up a pencil to write, I could not write more than a sentence (with exceptional difficulty) before my arm would seize up and drop it. What should have been study time became time in massage therapy, doing exercises at the gym, and any other recovery strategy I could think of to regain function of my arm. Three days before my MCAT I was finally able to write a page. Thankful, I went into my exam with hope for the future, even though I hadn't prepared the way I had planned. I trusted the work I put into my classes, despite the fear that I didn't do enough studying. Despite this, I am more grateful to have made a mostly full recovery just over a year from the crash. Throwing myself into my recovery was the smartest thing I could've done for myself. I was afraid I would never be able to hold instruments or perform surgery with the injuries, but the dissection course and my determination helped to soothe my fears. I have had many other challenges I'm still learning from and coming to terms with, but I am so grateful that I ended up where I am today. My grit, my tenacity, and my inability to give up put me in a position to succeed in life. Success to me looks like being able to get out of student debt from podiatry school around the time my residency is complete. Once out of debt, I will be able to actively give back to my community in the form of scholarships for kids in my rural area to go to college. I will use my education to become a better 4-H leader than I have been, and the financial stability to spend more time with helping them grow as leaders. My mentors and leaders are a part of the reason I became who I am today, and I would love nothing more than to be the same for the youth of my community.