Relationships in med school pt 12: So you think you know Ashley Smith

An interview with the one and only, Ashley Smith. 

Ken: So tell me 3 things about you.

Ashley: The first thing I want people to know is that I'm a Christian. I think it's important for future physicians to know what we believe about things like death. Medicine is a serious field. Also that I'm open to talking about it. 

The second is that I'm MUSC's biggest fan. I'm so grateful to be here, and I love the people. 

The third thing is that I love music. I was really excited to see the brass quintet play the other week. My favorite is Canon in D, and Xylophonia. 

K: So you're a Christian, how do you feel like med school has affected your spiritual life?

A: Well I'm pretty grounded. I know what I believe, so not too much. Although, praying for exams has definitely strengthened my prayer life. [laughs]

K: Right, right. And what's been your favorite part of med school? 

A: That's hard, there's so many things. .. Probably the friends I've made. I mean, it's people we didn't even know 7 months ago and it feels like we've known each other for years. I have awesome lab partners. We're forced to hang out for five hours a week. We almost always sing reading rainbow songs. 

K: With Sudeep in your group, that doesn't surprise me. Did you always know you wanted to come to med school?

A: Not exactly. There's a neuromuscular disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth that runs in my family. It's a demyelinating peripheral neuropathy. It can be associated with hip dysplasia, which is what I have. I randomly started limping around age 11, and eventually I had to have hip surgery. And that didn't really last because with the Charcot your muscles change so fast. 

After that I went to a hospital up in Boston, and it was awesome. It was such a stark contrast. Not that I didn't love my doctor back in Columbia, but it was just such a different experience. I ended up having both my hips reconstructed there. 

Being up there, I just loved learning about the disease. It became my life because I had to stay in bed for 2 months, then get on crutches, then finally start walking, and it was all such a long process. That was really the time I started seeing medicine as my future.

K: [insert token empathetic statement here] And you liked your doctors up there?

A: Definitely, it amazed me to see how skilled the doctors could be. At the time there were only two surgeons that could do my specific hip surgery. One was in San Diego, and the other was up in Boston where I ended up going. Looking back on it, it's incredible the difference one doctor can make in a person's quality of life. Before the surgery there were times when I'd walk into a store and I couldn't even walk out, my dad would have to carry me out. It was bad. 

K: Yeah, stories like that really make surgery sound cool.. Do you have any ideas for the kind of medicine you want to practice? 

A: I don't really know. I like so many things! I know i can't be a surgeon because my hands are weak from the disease. My lab partners know my hands are useless when it gets too cold in the lab. And I can't do loads of walking. So maybe something more like radiology, but at the same time I want to talk to patients. I'll see. I'm just looking forward to rotations.

K: Makes sense. And have you been back up to Boston since that surgery?

CC

A: Yeah, I love Boston. I had to go up there for a checkup this past December, so my family made a whole vacation trip out of it. We got to stay at Cape Cod, and see the big Christmas tree downtown. 

K: Nice, Cape Cod is great. And what do you do at these checkups? 

A: Well, things change so fast with the Charcot so I need to get constant checkups. My labrum is torn, and I just need to keep checking on small things like that. And, oh, I have no psoas function. Which, now I know what that is!

K: How would you say your perspective is different from other students?

A: Having been a patient is different. Knowing what patients deal with at home. And of course, every disease is different but everyone needs to adapt your home life. After my surgery I wasn't allowed to sit up at 90 degrees, which sounds weird, but it was really inconvenient. My mom had to help me put my socks and shoes on. Even once I could start sitting, I could go places, but I couldn't even pick up my pencil if I dropped it, and it was hard. I know how it is for patients to comply, and hopefully I'll be understanding when they don't. 

K: Any last things you'd like to say to the class?

A: I don't know.. I'd just like to give a shoutout to my lab partners. They're awesome and we have a lot of fun!

See you on the other side,

from ken

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