Mialovena (Mia) Exume, Elise Prehoda, and Alayna Westcom are Class of 2024 medical student graduates at the University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine.
In the following blog post, Mia, Elise, and Alayna answer questions in an interview about their inspiration to study medicine, the impact of their medical school experience, and future plans.
“I transitioned into medicine [from teaching] after seeing firsthand how illness and lack of health care affected all spheres of my students’ lives.” —Mialovena Exume
“Working in the [UVMMC] ED, I came to see a very clear picture of my future and resolved to become a physician that embodied the values I saw there.” —Elise Prehoda
“Larner’s focus on community was something that was super important to me when choosing a medical school.” —Alayna Westcom
What inspired your journey into medicine?
Mia: My journey to becoming a physician began as a pediatric patient at the 7th Avenue Family Health Center in Fort Lauderdale. When I was four, my mother and I emigrated from rural Jean Rabel, Haiti to an underserved urban community in Fort Lauderdale to be reunited with my grandmother (who had emigrated before us) and were fortunate to receive care and free basic services at this clinic. Often when people hear of Ft. Lauderdale, they associate it with vacations and luxury. However, behind the sandy white beaches and yacht-filled docks, there is a large population of immigrants and racial and ethnic minorities who live in poverty and have difficulty accessing and affording healthcare. Every time my mother and I visited 7th Avenue, the providers would be there with open arms, even when they knew we could not afford our visits. More importantly, I recognized their commitment to ensuring my wellness as a child, providing watchful guidance and education to prevent and cure disease. My desire to bridge the gap in healthcare, especially for pediatric patients who are disadvantaged, blossomed at this clinic. The journey to medicine is often not linear. I previously worked as a middle school educator in the Teach for America program where I taught Spanish language and culture to students at varying abilities in an underserved area of Atlanta. Although my time in the classroom was rewarding, I transitioned into medicine after seeing firsthand how illness and lack of healthcare affected all spheres of my students’ lives. I wanted to better understand the science of how adverse childhood experiences can set students on a path where challenges can become so overwhelming they give up—something I worked hard to help prevent to the students I taught.
Elise: I didn’t always know I wanted to be a doctor; as a child, if you asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would have told you I’d be perfectly happy sitting in a cozy nook reading books day in and day out, and exploring the land on the farm I called home. Despite this, I always embodied a persistent drive to provide aid to those who might be in need. Surrounded by animals on the farm where I was raised, I found myself drawn to the injured or ill; whether it was the chipmunk with a broken leg I built a makeshift splint for, or the lamb abandoned mid-winter on the brink of hypothermia that I rescued. Through my high school and undergraduate studies, I was persistently drawn to both science and humanities, yet unsure of my path. It was recommended that I pursue either medicine or research on the basis of my degree (BS in Neuroscience), so I applied into MD/PhD programs. It was not until I began working in the UVMMC Emergency Department that I came to realize my calling in medicine. While I previously saw physicians as prescribers; those who offer a diagnosis and a medication and little more, my time working in the ED taught me that the profession is so much more than that. I witnessed physicians care and mourn so deeply with family experiencing loss. I witnessed countless acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion. From working in the ED, I came to see a very clear picture of my future, and fully resolved to become a physician that embodied the values I saw there. After withdrawing my MD/PhD applications, I was fortunate enough to gain acceptance to the only MD program I applied to; UVM LCOM. Here, my resolve for medicine has only strengthened.
Alayna: I was always the kid who said they wanted to be a doctor but had very little personal experience with medical professionals as no one in my family was a physician. In my teen years I was obsessed with CSI and decided to continue my career path in forensics, but upon graduation from my undergrad there were less opportunities than I had hoped with my B.S.. I interned at the VT Office of The Chief Medical Examiner and loved working with the forensic pathologists. They loved teaching, it was evident they chose the right field for them, and the connection to the community, public health and helping families was something that drew me in. With my background in forensics, becoming a forensic pathologist felt right. Medical school showed me that there is a specialty for everyone, and that there are certain aspects of each specialty that each individual student jives with more than others. Not everyone can go into the same specialty, or we will not be able to care for the population holistically.
How has Larner’s focus on community and patient-centered care shaped your approach to medicine?
Mia: Larner’s focus on community and patient-centered care not only allowed me to better connect with patients but also better connect with myself. While medical school can be such a trying time, it is also a period of immense growth and reflection. Attending medical school here helped me to focus on my identity and passions outside of medicine, which in turn helped me to better serve the communities I worked with. I have been able to serve as an Albert Schweitzer fellow, create the Look at Larner Program, participate in numerous mentorship programs and create incredible projects that have had meaningful impacts on the targeted communities and have had significant impact on me. Larner’s mission has helped me to always say that I am me first and a medical student second, and the things that I am passionate about heighten my medical abilities.
Elise: One of the first things I learned growing up was to care for community. I was raised on a small farm in a small town, one that embodied the value of caring for your neighbor. Each summer farmer’s market felt like a community celebration, and the joy shared there is something I have always felt should permeate every community. During my time at Larner, I have been privileged to have the capacity to become involved with community-centered initiatives, both within and outside of the medical school. Through this involvement, I have been able to shape my approach to medicine into one that centers on community care and sustainability being a foundational pillar of healthier communities. As a prospective Emergency Medicine physician, I hope to root my practice in community. By this, I mean that when I care for patients whose conditions are a result of systemic disparities, or when I witness injustice in my community, or when I see patients who are suffering albeit not from medical complaints, I will strive to focus my energy on initiatives that address root causes of these issues more broadly in addition to caring for the patient in front of me.
Alayna: Larner’s focus on community was one of the aspects that I have seen woven through each year of training, and something that was super important to me when choosing a medical school. I grew up in a small rural town in Vermont (Bakersfield) where my 8th grade class graduated around 30 students, and the town wasn’t large enough to have a high school. Through my time working in Vermont, representing the state as Miss Vermont 2015, and continuing my education here, I have grown to love every corner of Vermont, and the people that call it home. Being the class that started in 2020, while many aspects of medicine and school were still shut down, the school still brought a focus of community within our class and how we as students could help the larger community. Patient-centered care was taught since day one. I can vividly remember the first day of school, (virtually) watching Dr. Lewis First interview and connect with a patient. From that day on, the DIV course, SP encounters and clerkships always focused on how we, as future physicians, should interact with our patients and their families. I was able to travel to Newport, VT for one of my rotations, and was able to interact with patients like those who I grew up with; being a part of their care was a privilege. The focus on good communication is something that I will take with me far into my career.
Where are you going for your residency and in what specialty?
Mia: I will be starting my residency in Pediatrics at Children’s National in DC. I hope to continue inspiring and encouraging people who are underrepresented in medicine in knowing that there is place for them in medicine. There is so much to gain from having diversity in thought, backgrounds and experiences and medicine and the people we serve will be all the more better when that is established.
Elise: I will be attending residency at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Program (HAEMR) at Mass General/Brigham. My passions include supporting and developing community-based initiatives to build healthy communities, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC), and gender equity (just to name a few!). I intend to continue my work in each of these fields during residency and beyond.
Alayna: I will be staying here at UVMMC for my Pathology Residency program, with the plans to continue onto fellowships in Forensics Pathology and Pediatric Pathology.
