STFM Blog

Farrah Fong
Medical Student

This is the first place student winner in the 2015 STFM Blog Competition. 

Sometimes, it’s difficult to recall that single defining moment or person that sends you on the path you’re meant to take in life. I was fortunate in that I found that experience halfway through my undergraduate career at University of California, Davis. I had recently lost my grandmother—although I’d wanted to help, all I’d been able to do at the hospital was translate for her. That overwhelming sense of helplessness I felt due to my lack of medical knowledge fueled my desire to help and serve others as a physician. Since I needed to find someplace to start, I applied to become a patient advocate and medical interpreter for Paul Hom Asian Clinic, a student-run clinic that provides free health care to a predominantly uninsured, Cantonese-speaking population.

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Aisha Harris
Medical Student

This is a finalist in the 2015 STFM Blog Competition. 

When I decided to pursue a career in medicine I knew that I wanted to go into primary care. Primary care physicians were the individuals that impressed and influenced me. They were on the front line providing grassroots medicine and I wanted that. I wanted the feeling of being a catalyst for change in an individual and a community. I wanted the unique responsibility and humility that comes with practicing family medicine and its roots within its general practitioner history. And be a part of the critical role of family medicine physicians and their ability to get intertwined within generations, households, and communities.

Family medicine to me means being a resource to patients and their families and welcoming the opportunity to improve circumstances and quality of life by embodying the core beliefs of medicine. When I started my family medicine rotation during the third year I was excited. During my first 2 years of medical school, I became more and more interested and intrigued by family medicine because of the beautiful spectrum of potential opportunities, experiences, and impact.

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