![\"dicocco-portrait\"](\"http:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/12\/dicocco-portrait.jpg\")
Di Cocco was impressed with what she saw, particularly the way the doctors created a thoughtful balance between their professional and personal lives. She realized it was possible to care for patients without sacrificing other life interests. Her artistic pursuits need not be abandoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing how much the doctors cared about the patients, and seeing the strong, beautiful bonds they formed with them was something I really liked,\u201d she recalls. \u00a0\u201cI wanted to be sure I would have that kind of bond with people as a doctor because that\u2019s something I value.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne reason I was so focused on the doctor-patient relationship while trying to figure out if I wanted to practice medicine, is because theater is all about empathy\u2014 understanding your character\u2019s motivations and creating a bond with both your fellow actors and the audience,\u201d she says. \u201cIn making people feel connected everything is interwoven.\u201d<\/p>\n
This parallel between theater and patient care is not lost on Di Cocco. In theater, she notes, you learn to make strong choices, \u201cin order to impact the audience and be true to the story you are telling.\u201d Recognizing what was important to her and what truly made her happy, Di Cocco made a choice\u2014she decided to become a physician.<\/p>\n
Amid the flurry of applying to medical school, Di Cocco, unsurprisingly, continued to act. She participated in an industry reading of a new musical written by a former Cornell classmate based on one of Chaucer\u2019s Canterbury Tales \u201cabout wanting to create your own story and not having it written for you,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n
Originally written and performed as an undergraduate thesis, he rewrote the musical and recast two of his former classmates from the college production, including Di Cocco, who were living and working in New York City. In 2015 Far From Canterbury<\/em> was picked up by the New York International Fringe Festival\u2014FringeNYC is the largest multi-arts festival in North America and presents nearly 200 performances by emerging theater troupes and dance companies each year. The musical was one of only 12 productions invited to return for an encore performance later that year.<\/p>\n Though Di Cocco was thrilled to be on stage again as part of a cast of professional actors, she knew medicine was the right choice for her. \u201cAlthough I love theater, I never liked the idea of constantly going to casting calls between jobs,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the same is true with writing\u2014I love writing, but if you have to force out something creative to meet a deadline it doesn\u2019t work out well.\u201d<\/p>\n