EPISODE 26: NATE GILBRETH
September 22, 2019
The culture on the East Coast seems more different than where I grew up in San Ramon, California. Before NYMC, I’d never heard a true New York or Boston accent. I thought it was interesting when people said “Cali” for California or “Mass” for Massachusetts. Back home, we’d just say California. Also, I’d get called out anytime I said the word “hella”.
I lived in California my entire life before coming here. I went to college at Cal Poly in the central coast as a bio major, but I didn’t really know I wanted to do medicine until the end of my second year. I thought I’d end up doing pharmaceutical sales, or something in the computer science field.
One time, a friend convinced me to go on a medical mission trip down in Tijuana, Mexico through the organization, Healing Hearts Across Borders. It was my first introduction to medicine. We would go for 3 days and see upwards of 800 to 1000 patients. It was pretty concerning to see all the things going on just across our border.
One time, we saw a 50-year-old man that was complaining about a limited range of motion in his right elbow. We later found that his elbow was so messed up because he had gotten beaten by a baseball bat when the mafia stole his son. I would also see people living in cardboard homes, gang violence, and starvation. I actually got to see Kwashiorkor, the illness we learned about in biochemistry. We saw a lot of terrible situations, but they made me respect the physicians and healthcare workers there even more. I got to see the real good in people.
More than just being exposed to these things, I eventually became friends with one our patients who always told me how we wanted to “get out of there and make something of himself”. By the end of my senior year he had actually made it to college on a full scholarship and had won a robotics competition. It was an amazing thing to see.
After the first one, I continued going on these trips every 3 months for 2.5 years and never skipped a single one. It was eye-opening for me. I realized I wanted to do more than pharmaceutical sales. I saw medicine as that option to really change people’s lives for the better. My dream was to become an EM physician or primary care physician and to come back to serve these communities again. It’d be like coming around full circle.
After committing to medicine, I went to speak to a pre-medical advisor at Cal-Poly. It was a pivotal moment. The advisor told me that I shouldn’t apply to medical school. She said that my grades weren’t good enough and that she didn’t think I could make a great physician.
It was de-motivating to hear, but I kept fighting. Her words made her realize that I had to get my act together. Ultimately, in the last 2 years of college, I managed to pick up my grades, and I was able to figure things out.
In my senior year, I came around to putting together an application and writing a personal statement. The week before I submitted my application, I met with a different advisor. Again, I was told that I wouldn’t make a great physician. I remember her saying, “I just saw your track record through school. Yes, maybe you improved your grades and started doing medically-related activities, but I really don’t see you as the person that wants to be a doctor.”
The worst part was that she said all these things to me in front of other people. The room where we were talking had the door open towards the waiting room. I started to tear up in front of her. She made me feel like nothing.
It really frustrated me. She didn’t think I was serious about school or that I actually cared about any of these Tijuana trips. I wouldn’t be going on all these trips if they didn’t mean anything. I had to reschedule midterms for these trips. It opened my eyes to the privileges I had. It’s why I kept going on them. I even got to see a lot of the same kids on each trip and we would always play pickup soccer.
That week, I thought a lot about the whole thing – applying to medical school. I was debating whether I should even hit the submit button. I was thinking, maybe she’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t apply.
In the end, I wasn’t going to try and convince her because I knew for myself why I was going into it. Moments like these are what drove me into medicine even more. I got to decide that this was what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Who are your 5 most recently played artists?
Khalid, J Cole, Chance the rapper, Bryce Vine, Hippie Sabotage
If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
Teleport because it would make life so much easier and I could travel the world
Pick someone or something from NYMC to give a shout-out too!
Shoutout to the boys of 1508
If someone wanted to talk to you, they should lead with…
Show me your favorite vine (or tiktok whatever the kiddos are using these days)