The Big Picture of a Career Behind the Microscope: Life Lessons from a Thirty-Something Woman in Medicine

I consider myself fortunate to pursue a career whose steps were laid out before me. The umbrella of medicine is broad, however, and many major life events occur between the time a young person starts college and a career truly materializes. Looking back on the past fifteen years since graduating high school, I’ve learned more about people and the world around me than any single topic taught in a classroom. From one detour after finishing my undergraduate degree, to another after graduating medical school, my path to becoming a pathologist was not the direct one I envisioned. Since graduating from NSU, I am at the cusp of my career in pathology, am married, and have started a family. I’m in the middle of my first fellowship in cytology, and anticipating the start of my second fellowship in breast pathology across the country at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I’m due with my second child any day, and supporting a husband whose career is just as demanding. I’m still learning, but know that the period of time spent in college is developmentally as important as early childhood. That time is truly a crossroads and the few years spent pursuing an undergraduate degree should be a time of exploration, not procrastination. Join me as I elaborate on truths like “30 is not the new 20”, “you can have it all, just not all at once”, and “nothing in the world takes the place of persistence”. I look forward to meeting you!