Congratulations to Kirsten! Premed of the Week!

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.  My name is Kirsten, but call me Kirsti. I major in Biology with a chemistry and a studio art minor. I grew up in Idaho and I’ve been skiing since I was 2 years old. I moved to upstate New York my senior year of high school, and I began my college career at SUNY Plattsburgh. I loved my friends and many of my professors, however ultimately the school wasn’t for me. I recently transferred to Union College where I will start classes in the fall, but to be honest I’m super nervous to start all over again!

2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you?  Honestly my favorite teacher has been life itself. Okay don’t roll your eyes, I promise this isn’t just a lame and cliche cop-out of the prompt; I’ll explain: When I was 10 years old a nauseating stomachache began to plague me and I often felt like a blunt knife was stabbing my abdomen. This made being a kid and going to school extremely hard. I am now almost 21 and I still have this stomachache along with multiple new symptoms that accumulated along the way, and none of the specialists I’ve seen so far have offered an effective diagnosis. I was often accused of fabricating my pain to get out of class or when my homework was late. I sometimes wished someone could feel what I felt so they could know how much I cared and that I wasn’t lazy – I was hurting. I have always been ambitious despite my challenges and by junior year of high school I realized I needed to pick myself up in order to succeed. I didn’t need other people to understand or sympathize and I began to realize pity was not going to help me. I befriended hard work, motivation, and determination and I finally understand why the phrase “you are not your illness” is a wonderfully overused chesnut.

3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why?  If you had asked 7 year old me what I wanted to dress up as for career day in elementary school I would have asked for a white coat and stethoscope, so in theory I actually always knew I wanted to be a doctor.

After contracting my mystery illness I found myself in many different doctor’s offices over the years and I went through a plethora of tests. I found the whole process so interesting. No amount of questions about what they were testing for, why, and how the test worked would satisfy my growing curiosity about medicine and the human body. I now see my illness as sort of a blessing as I know much of the medical system inside and out from the patient’s perspective. I have also experienced many different types of pain all over my body and I feel this will help me understand and empathize with my future patients in a way no textbook or psychology class can teach. So now I kind of have to follow my dream, right?

4. What area of medicine are you interested in?  Surgery all the way! Probably plastic surgery because it’s so artistic and I can’t think of a better career than being able to work with my hands every day.

5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey?  My college adviser had been so kind as to set me up with a mentor who is an anesthesiologist. He took me into as many surgeries as I requested and I was lucky enough to see a wide range of surgical specialties. Although I am not interested in anesthesiology for my future career, my mentor absolutely LOVED his job. There was not a day he wasn’t excited to be in the OR by 7 am even after working for so many years. One day while prepping for a case, eagerly drawing all sorts of drugs into syringes, he looked over at me and said, “ I love this sh*t!

6. What is your favorite book?  The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle because Tolle is THE BEST.

7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know.  I was an acrobat for about 5 years and for a little while I would have been perfectly happy running away with the circus.