Jessica Schwartz '23Medicine (MD/PhD)
Name: Jessica Schwartz
Graduation Year: 2023
Major: Chemistry; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Story: When I started at Gustavus, I wanted to be a physician because I was good at science and I liked Grey’s Anatomy. I started working in Dr. Amanda Nienow’s physical chemistry lab my freshman year because I knew research was something that people did to get into medical school, but I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. This led me to exploring a career in research and made me wonder if being a doctor was really the right path for me.
Still, the idea of working in medicine stuck with me. Experiences like shadowing healthcare providers during J-term and working as a resident assistant at River’s Edge Assisted Living in St. Peter confirmed to me that I found meaning in caring for other people, and I didn’t want to let that go for a career in research. Looking for ways to combine research and medicine, I stumbled on the physician-scientist career path — apparently, there were physicians who ran translational science labs while still practicing medicine! The summer after my sophomore year, I participated in a pre-MD/PhD program, where I worked in a lab ran by a physician-scientist and met students and doctors who had obtained an MD, PhD, or both. I learned what it meant to be a physician-scientist and how going through an MD/PhD program could help me achieve my goals.
After a few years of building my research experience and changing my mind a few dozen times, I decided to apply to MD/PhD programs to the intersection between infection and pregnancy. I’m excited to help bridge the gap between research and clinical treatment in women’s healthcare and looking forward to starting in the fall!
Top Five Activities/Experiences: (in no particular order)
1. MSTP Summer Scholar program and infectious disease research at UW-Madison
2. Resident assistant at Ecumen Assisted Living/Memory Care
3. Chemistry research with Amanda Nienow
4. Writing Center tutor
5. Jazz pianist in the Adolphus Big Band
Advice:
1. Seek out good mentors. The Gustavus alumni network is small but meaningful, and in my experience people are more than willing to help; don’t be afraid to reach out to previous Gusties to ask about their experience and how they got to be where they are.
2. Work hard, but take breaks. If something is important to you (friends, a hobby, a pet), you can make time for it. Without participating in jazz band ~3-5 hours per week, I don’t think I would have been able thrive throughout college — even though taking time for jazz meant sometimes pushing homework or missing out on a clinical activity due to scheduling. Plus, I talked about jaz
3. Keep a journal or log of your experiences. If something meaningful happens in your clinical job or a volunteer, write it down. Applying to med school involves writing dozens of mini essays; there are so many experiences I had during my early years of college that I forgot about until I went back to what I had written. It made writing my essays much easier!
Future Plans:
I’ll be starting a MD/PhD program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August of 2024. I’m planning on studying pregnancy and infection during my PhD and hope to pursue a related clinical specialty, possibly OB/GYN.