Part 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Back in 2015 as an MD-PhD student, Yike Jiang \u201919, received the Pricilla Schaefer Award for her work investigating how our immune system's response to the ubiquitous herpes simplex virus can lead to blindness, and how it can be prevented. The award recognizes promising young investigators and commemorates Schaffer\u2019s contributions to herpes virology and her dedication to mentoring young virologists.<\/p>\n During those early days of graduate research with David Leib, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology, Jiang says she was a bit na\u00efve and unsure of what she was doing at first, but receiving the award changed that.<\/p>\n \u201cThat award boosted my confidence as to who I was, what I wanted to be, and how to be successful in research, which I\u2019ve learned is a combination of luck, trial and error, and persistence,\u201d she says. \u201cIn lab, when something doesn\u2019t work, you do it again and again\u2014it feels like insanity\u2014but that boost in confidence gave me the creative energy to take risks in thinking differently about problems and to try something wildly crazy. And that leap of faith led to success.\u201d<\/p>\n With Lieb\u2019s mentorship and encouragement to pursue her own work, Jiang took another look at a microscopy experiment that was not working. \u201cThe negative control was not negative, and objectively, it means that the experiment was a failure. But what it told me was there were existing antibodies in the nervous system that previously had not been appreciated,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was a game-changer. The dogma was in question. The immune system and the brain are supposed to be separated, but right in front of me was evidence that refuted the dogma\u2014and I took this finding in a very different direction from the expertise in the lab; I took it to neonatology.\u201d<\/p>\n She found that these antibodies are passed on from a mother to her baby<\/a>, protecting them from neurological infection that can damage the brain or cause death. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a lot of time to step into the lab during my fourth year, but the project continued after I left. Chaya Patel, the grad student who took over this project, found that antibodies produced by maternal vaccinations can prevent mortality and behavior changes from neonatal herpes<\/a>. Having been part of her training, I feel particularly proud to see her blossom and succeed as a researcher.\u201d<\/p>\n This research experience led Jiang to pediatrics. After commencement, she\u2019s off to Texas Children\u2019s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. \u201cThey have this special research track for pediatrics, so not only will I be doing my residency, I\u2019ll also be doing clinical and basic science research at the same time,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m excited for what\u2019s ahead. I\u2019ve learned a lot at Geisel, but I\u2019m ready for my next great adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adrianna Stanley \u201919, is a bit of a nomad.<\/p>\n She has traveled the world pursing her longtime interests in global health and tropical medicine\u2014spending a summer in the Peruvian tropical basin researching malaria in Latin America as a National Benjamin H. Keene Travel fellow; addressing health inequities in Central America, acquiring a range of skills that allowed her to make a deeper impact in San Jose, Costa Rica, where she provided primary healthcare services to uninsured Nicaraguan immigrants in one of the city\u2019s poorest neighborhoods; as a Geisel Global Health Scholar, traveling to Guatemala as part of a medical team providing cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries.<\/p>\n She spent the past year living in England pursuing a master\u2019s degree in Control of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which is comparable to a master\u2019s degree of public health in the U.S. but focused on infectious diseases and transmissible illnesses. She studied vector-borne diseases from mosquitos and other bugs that transmit disease, focusing on quantitative analysis of disease transmission dynamics\u2014looking at disease incidence in a specific geographic area then mathematically modeling interventions to see their effect on predictive disease outcomes.<\/p>\n An early fascination with the evolution of disease producing bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites drives her interest and her frustration with their persistence in a world with so many advances in medicine and technology.<\/p>\n Stanley\u2019s family is originally from San Jose, Costa Rica, and for her tropical medicine is also about health equity\u2014she wants to make sure those who are most underserved in the global community have access to quality healthcare and are no longer burdened by preventable disease. In an earlier story<\/a> written about Stanley, she said, \u201cTropical medicine is the face of my mother who lives everyday with cysticercosis. It is the sound of my three-year-old Costa Rican cousin crying from the misery of dengue fever, and it is a place where patients with Chagas, Leishmaniasis, and Leprosy should no longer be judged because of their diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Match Day, Stanley headed to an eight-week global health clinical elective in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where she is immersed in an urban setting at the country\u2019s primary referral hospital that includes three weeks of internal medicine and four weeks of pediatrics along with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) research projects. \u201cI\u2019m working in a hospital to see how they deliver care\u2014seeing prevalent diseases in patients with TB, HIV, malaria, and dengue that I\u2019d previously worked with mathematically,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n Though most of these are preventable diseases, Stanley says she won\u2019t be making a difference during her two-month stay. \u201cI\u2019m not here to make a difference. I\u2019m here to learn how they practice medicine. I want to learn alongside Tanzanian medical students and understand how their healthcare system works. But in the future, I hope to use these continuing global health experiences to inform how I\u2019ll practice global medicine because these are health inequities that no one should have to live with.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning about the transition of HIV care in the adolescent population aligns with Stanley\u2019s goal of becoming board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics. She says, \u201cWe see this problem a lot when pediatric patients with chronic illnesses transition into adult care\u2014they drop off the map and this is particularly true with HIV care in Tanzania where the age of transition is around 14.\u201d<\/p>\n During her time in Dar es Salaam, she is continuing research on the impact of the Dar-901 vaccination on TB among adolescents in Tanzania\u2014a project managed by Ford von Reyn, MD, a professor of medicine at Geisel, and Lisa Adams MED \u201990, associate dean for global health at Geisel\u2014which she began in 2018 as a medical scholar of the Infectious Disease Society of America Foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing mathematical modeling for TB vaccine interventions, we can map immunization efforts onto known epidemiologic and demographic factors of Dar es Salaam to inform our predictions about how well we think the vaccine might prevent infection or reduce incidence of TB in this region,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cMathematical modeling is a skill that allows me to practice global health wherever I\u2019m living,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s an impactful tool you can use remotely to make mathematical predictions of where disease is headed and based on these modeling predictors, public health departments can scale-up, implement, or change interventions\u2014this brings together epidemiology, public health, and clinical medicine, which is why I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n After returning to Geisel for commencement, Stanley is off to UCLA Medical Center for a medicine-pediatrics residency\u2014a growing field that gives physicians an opportunity to see patients of all ages in both the clinical and hospital setting.<\/p>\n \u201cMedicine-pediatrics is a great way to combine primary care and hospital-based care\u2014it\u2019s the best of both worlds because you can provide outpatient and inpatient care for both children and adults,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Ever the world traveler, Stanley ultimately sees herself returning to London as an infectious disease physician and global health clinician in academic medicine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Third- and fourth-year clinical rotations can be challenging\u2014every eight weeks Geisel students find themselves in a new clinical environment integrating with a new clinical team. A situation that some find overwhelming, others find rewarding.<\/p>\n Alex Tarabochia \u201919 found it rewarding.<\/p>\n \u201cMy car became a walk-in closet during my away rotations\u2014sometimes it was awesome, others not so much,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThough it was difficult, it all worked out in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n No stranger to the dynamics of creating community harmony and the effort it takes to forge strong ties, Tarabochia is comfortable in situations many may consider stressful.<\/p>\n He completed a one-year AmeriCorps service term in Jacksonville, Florida where he served as a case manager for the male partners of women receiving pre- and postnatal care in a high-risk clinic. The aim was to reduce the alarmingly high rate of infant mortality in an area of the city challenged by a stark color and poverty divide.<\/p>\n The expectant parents shared intimate details of their daily lives with him\u2014Tarabochia\u2019s gentle, trusting nature inspires confidence and the divulsion of secrets. He values these relationships and says they are of critical importance to him as a physician who wants to build longitudinal relationships with his patients.<\/p>\n During an obstetrics and gynecology rotation, he thought that specialty would provide the patient interaction he wanted. \u201cI loved the taking care of the patients and I really loved childbirth\u2014that was my favorite thing\u2014being there to birth babies,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s miraculous and it was the best experience I could have asked for\u2014but I realized I didn\u2019t love surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n Then on a sub-intern rotation in internal medicine at a Mayo Clinic in Florida, Tarabochia found the patient-focused, cohesive care he was looking for. \u201cI asked people if this focus on care is consistent across all Mayo facilities and received a unanimous \u2018yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Given his preference for smaller, intimate environments, he surprisingly fell in love with the Mayo Clinic\u2019s large internal medicine residency program where he found kinship among its like-minded residents. \u00a0\u201cI realized that I love big programs,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI want more people around me because that means there are more opportunities to learn\u2014which is what I value in Mayo\u2019s culture of education.\u201d<\/p>\n But on a personal level, Tarabochia prefers a smaller scale. At Geisel, he created a much-needed life separate from medical school. During his third year he moved in with a friend from Plainfield, NH, \u201cLiving there gave me a strong sense of community\u2014I was accepted\u2014and a home in a small town that\u2019s really cool. When I walked my friend\u2019s dog, people stopped to chat with \u2018the medical student\u2019\u2014it was a good life and I will miss it tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n Tarabochia\u2019s fond memories extend to his medical education, too. \u201cThis school is clinically excellent. The providers in the community and the teaching sites beyond Hanover are excellent,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know how else to say it. I still have a lot learning ahead\u2014but the way clinicians at Geisel interact with students, the questions I can ask, and the comfort I felt in most clinical situations was incredible.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a first-generation student I\u2019ve worked hard to get myself here. And I feel really good about that, but I also know there are many, many equally qualified students who could have taken my spot. I can\u2019t convey how thankful I am to be here\u2014finishing and knowing I can do this has been transformative. I\u2019m leaving here thinking I may return.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Medical school can be full of surprises. First-year students often sure of what they want to pursue, change their mind once rotations begin. Though this isn\u2019t true for everyone, it was true for Lye-Yeng Wong \u201919.<\/p>\n \u201cI fell in love with surgery during my third year, which was surprising for me even though many of my classmates said that choice was obvious from the start\u2014the first day I dissected the cadaver,\u201d Wong recalls.<\/p>\n Originally, she intended to practice emergency medicine, a decision she partially credits to her mentors prior to medical school. She found the field exciting, especially the fact that emergency physicians are generalists who need to be good at a bit of everything. \u201cBut now,\u201d she says, \u201cI want to be a specialist in one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Wong credits her involvement with Geisel\u2019s chapter of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) for turning her attention from emergency medicine\u2014she got her first glimpse of surgery when she traveled to Nicaragua under the mentorship of a Dartmouth ENT surgeon. And between her third- and fourth-year of medical school, she participated in a research fellowship in Cape Town, South Africa, where along with conducting research\u2014looking at heart failure in HIV patients\u2014she worked shifts in the clinic\u2019s emergency department. It was there that she was drawn to taking care of patients with penetrating traumas, such as stab wounds, who required stitches.<\/p>\n Back at Geisel, after four sub-internships in a row, including thoracic surgery and oncology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, one in Seattle and another in Oregon, Wong was smitten. She fell in love with the program at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, which is where she\u2019ll be doing her residency.<\/p>\n \u201cBy then, I was convinced I wanted to be a surgeon,\u201d she says. \u201cSurgery is a serious specialty that requires a lot of focused attention, thought, and skill, and I like that. I also like how you can significantly change someone\u2019s life\u2014one surgery can turn a life around.\u201d<\/p>\n She feels equipped to handle the demands of the profession because of a lifetime in ballet. \u201cI\u2019m used to training hard\u2014practicing moves over and over in order to perform during a period of high stress. That\u2019s analogous to surgery and it\u2019s why I enjoy that environment. Plus, I\u2019ve always enjoyed hobbies that require eye-hand coordination\u2014woodworking, ceramics, knitting.\u201d<\/p>\n While on the residency interview trail, Wong overhead a fellow applicant talking about the dearth of female role models in surgery and how she wished there were more. Surgery, Wong notes, has always been an \u2018old boys club\u2019 where you have to ignore everything else in your life, but that\u2019s changing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited about going into a field where I can be part of that change. The lack of female mentors is something I\u2019ve never even thought about, because they are abundant here,\u201d she says. \u201cDartmouth is a good example of the future face of surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Match Day is an important day in the life of graduating medical students\u2014it\u2019s when they discover where they will be spending their residency. This story (parts 1 and 2) features seven students on the cusp of their professional careers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[288,536],"class_list":["post-11833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news","tag-graduation","tag-medical-students","author-12"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/lifeaftermatch-pt1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4r3h1-34R","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11833"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12670,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11833\/revisions\/12670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Part 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n \n
<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Yike Jiang \u201919: Leap of Faith<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/yikejiang-2sqr-360x360.jpg\")
<\/a>Adrianna Stanley \u201919: Predicting the Future<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/adrianna-sqr-360x360.jpg\")
<\/a>Alex Tarabochia \u201919: \u00a0Longitudinal Relationships<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/LarryKogan-and-Alex-sqr-360x360.jpg\")
<\/a>Lye-Yeng Wong \u201919:\u00a0 The Future Face of Surgery<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Lye-Yeng-Wong-sqr-360x360.jpg\")
Continue to Part 2...<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"