Relationships in med school pt 13: So you think you know Marshall Oelsen

with the gf

An interview with the one and only Marshall Oelsen.

Ken: Tell me 3 things about you.

Marshall: I'm from Texas.

Being diagnosed with Diabetes completely changed my life - it made me a control freak on so many levels.

I can say the thing I'm best at in our class is having the most energy. I think a lot of other people would agree, so I'll brag about that.

Ken: Yeah I'd agree to that. So tell me a little about how you got here. What'd you do in college?

Marshall: Well I graduated from Davidson in 2010. I just wasn't focused academically. My college was super tough, and I just didn't take it seriously enough. I knew I wanted to go to med school, but I never understood what sort of grades it took. I was on the honor council there, and my senior year I was an investigator. I hated when people called me a prosecutor because I didn't see myself like that. My job was to present the facts and have the most fair trial. I mean, someone's future is at stake. It's hard to find the truth, it was a tough job. Thankless. It's not like there's any trophies for it, you know?

K: Yeah, it's too easy to go after the trophies to stack up on the AMCAS. So I saw you were elected to the honor council at MUSC, congrats on that. If the job was so tough at Davidson, why keep doing it?

M: Good question. It's the best way I can serve our class. Since I have that experience - I just feel like it's my duty. 

K: Makes sense. And what'd you do after you graduated?

M: I started working for [one of our unnamed professors]. Actually, and I might have told you this story, but the first thing he ever said to me was hilarious. He walks in, sees me, looks at his #2, and says, "Who the fuck is this kid?" It was something else. 

K: [laughs] nice, nice. And how did it grow from there?

M: It was a really good conduit for me to work hard and be challenged. I felt like I had to prove myself. I know I'm not the smartest mind here, but those two years off really helped me harness my inner control freak into a great work ethic. 

K: And what else did you do?

M: I learned to surf. I started running a lot, and worked on my nutrition. I got my A1C down to 5.7. Now it's back up a point. It's hard to eat right in school. 

K: So tell me more about the Diabetes.

M: It really is a sad story of how I got diagnosed. I had been sick for a long time, and when I actually got diagnosed it was with a pediatrician I had never seen before. My regular doctor was out of town. And we had this awkward conversation where I was explaining to him that I had lost 25 lb and I'd been drinking water all the time. 

So he brought in a tech and they tested my blood sugar, just to check. All I remember is that when the result came up it didn't even have a number, it just said HI. They said we'll be right back and fled the room. And it sucked. I was sitting by myself with nothing. I was a confused kid. And I lost my temper. I found the guy's office and I yelled at him to tell me what was going on. He let me into his office, and just gave me this stack of papers. He said, "You have type 1 Diabetes." 


And that's been a lot of my driving force. I suddenly had to care about my health. I was way more laid back before the diagnosis. Now I'm always conscious of what i'm eating, and it makes me a control freak on so many levels. I had to figure it out on my own, how to live with Diabetes. So I've tried my best to make myself available to other kids that get diagnosed. Whether it's just over the phone or email. I still have probably 4 or 5 kids I try to stay in contact with. Just try to check in on them. 

K: And how does this whole experience change your perspective as a student?

M: Other students say this all the time, and of course I do too. But everyone says, "Oh we don't need to know that for boards." And I'm not saying I'm a saint because I do it too. But at the end of all this, we're going to be dealing with people, not tests. These exams aren't the end all be all. We'll be doctors soon. Well, we'll be. Not you. 

K: [laughs] So true. Don't remind me. 

M: When I'm your resident I'll show you some mercy. But yeah, I just remember sitting back in that exam room all by myself. It's a tough thing to reach a patient. I hope I'm good at it. That's why I'm here. To be there for your patients that are alone and confused. 

my future boss

Plus all those Diabetes questions on the test like, do you snack? I got all those. 

K: Any last things you want the class to know about you? 

M: I'm really impressed with how brilliant everyone is, and how interesting everyone is. It just feels like everyone has a cool story, I meet new cool people everyday. We all have the same focus, but at the same time, everyone has had such a different path of how they got there. Just a lot of cool people here. 

K: preach. 

See you on the other side,

from ken

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