Episode 26: Nico Sanchez

June 3, 2018

Like many people here, one of the largest reasons I decided to go into medicine was my family. My grandfather was a doctor, and my dad and uncle are both doctors as well (all radiologists—no pressure). Naturally, when I was accepted to medical school (my NYMC acceptance) the first person that I wanted to tell was my dad. He was in Colombia at the time—where he grew up—visiting his family. Coincidentally enough, he was also with my grandfather at the time. I had to wait a few hours to FaceTime my dad to give him the news, but when I did, he was so excited. My grandfather suffers from Alzheimer’s and was gradually losing his short-term memory at the time, but my dad passed on the news anyway. While my grandfather could only keep that idea in his mind for a short time, that was a really special moment for me. To think that, when my grandfather went to medical school, then so many years later, I would be doing it? In that moment, there was a connection among three generations of physicians, all starting with my grandfather. That’s something that’s going to stick with me for a long time.

It was my dad that first got me interested in medicine. It was mostly the connections you can make with people that drew me to it. He would come home and show us letters or notes that patients wrote, or awards he received for patient appreciation. After my initial interest through my dad, it took me some time to realize it on my own. I feel that, in life, it is easy to fall into a profession, become complacent, and do the same thing every day, and that’s just the way things work. But medicine offers constant everyday challenges and the opportunities to advance myself day by day.

One of my challenges is self-doubt in medical school--not knowing if you have it in you to do what you need to do. We’re learning from lectures and from textbooks; I can learn this material on the test, but actually going out and working with real patients and applying your knowledge in a small amount of time, and impacting people’s lives, livelihoods, and their family’s happiness is something that scares and worries me at times. It’s daunting to think that I’ll be that guy. I’m the one that makes the decision about the patient, figures out what’s going on, knows what to do, and tells someone what the next steps are. You can make mistakes, but at the end of the day, you are responsible. Most times you are hoping to be right. It’s not always life or death, but each decision you make is important and has an effect on people. Even by the time you’re a fourth year or a resident it’s not like you’re just there and ready and know everything, and even when you’re a practicing doctor you won’t know everything. It’s a continuous journey of learning and advancement. There's a lot to learn, and I’m going to be responsible for a lot of things, but that journey is what I love about medicine.

We’re almost done this year, and I feel that we’ve dealt with the challenges and have taken advantage of the opportunities of ways to improve: study habits, personal aspects of dealing with patients, our relationships, maturity, setting goals. I’m always pursuing self-advancement and becoming a better version of myself each day. That’s something I enjoy, and medical school offers that all the time.

We have a really good community here, and seeing other people go through the same struggles is reassuring. It’s really easy to get into your own heads, but I’ve seen many people who aren’t scared to be vulnerable and open. That’s something I appreciate about the community here in general because it makes it less competitive and stressful. I have noticed that it stretches from close friends to acquaintances and to other people out there. It’s definitely something that’s surprising to me about medical school, and something that I really appreciate--that people are willing to be that open.

What are your 5 Most Recently Played Artists on Spotify?
Drake, Post Malone, Tory Lanez, Zhu, Jhene Aiko

If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
I would like to have the ability to clone myself--send one clone to the library, one to the gym, and then I could get some work done on my own--and then reintegrate the clones into myself. That way I could get more done in less time. But what if the clones rebelled against me?? 0_o

Pick something or someone from NYMC to give a shout out to!
Shout out to the 1405 roommates: John Budrow, Kenny Marsh, Matt Palastro, and Joey McCafferty (honorary roommate). I didn’t think I’d make friends this great in med school, and they’ve really made things more bearable and fun.

If someone wanted to talk to you, they should lead with…
Literally anything about the Sixers