Women's Month Spotlight: From High School PCA to Navy Doctor, A Woman's Journey in Medicine

Beginning sometime in middle school I started thinking about a career in medicine. No one in my family worked in healthcare, but I loved science and the connection with people that medicine brought. My high school offered a vocational education track where I attended school in the morning and worked at Riverside Hospital as a PCA in the evening. It was a pivotal experience for me. I worked the evening shift in the ICU throughout my last two years of high school and all throughout college. It only deepened my attachment to medicine. It allowed me to support myself through school and introduced me to my early mentors, particularly Dr. Rogoveand Dr. Ruff, who helped guide me on my medical school applications and interviews. 

In medical school, I joined the Navy as a Health Professions Scholarship student. Upon graduation, I had the great fortune to serve as a general medical officer at Sewell’s Point, where we were led by an inspirational woman, our Officer in Charge. She gave each of us the opportunity to discuss our frustrations about our work, but then immediately put us to work fixing them. It was here that I held my first leadership role, where I was assigned the responsibility of enhancing the aspects of our clinic that I had previously complained about.

I met my husband on day one in the anatomy lab. We started the semester on opposite sides of the table and ended up on the same side. We have raised five successful children, two of whom have opted for a career in medicine. I hope they can create something better for our profession and that it feeds them in the way it has me.