Today we’d like to introduce you to Anya Bazzell.
Anya, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
For quite some time, I have wanted to be a surgeon. The idea of identifying a problem, traversing the beautiful landscape of the human body and ultimately, providing a solution has always been desirable to me. During my Masters in Public Health program, I also became enamored with the field of Maternal and Child Health. In so many communities, particularly black communities, it is the matriarch of the family who determines food selection and establishes primary care. It is often the matriarch who leads and exemplifies health care practices and behaviors adopted by family members. For these reasons, I believe that one of the best ways to enhance community health is to enhance women’s health — and subsequently, the health of their families. I desired a way to merge my passion for both surgery and Maternal and Child Health. When I discovered the field of fetal surgery — performing operations in utero — I felt like I had truly found my niche, my path. It is my heart’s desire to provide fetal surgical care to low-income and underserved communities both locally and abroad.
Currently, I am a 3rd year medical student. I am so incredibly close to my dream and could not be prouder. As a medical student, I am extremely grateful that I have been able to contribute to efforts that improve access to care, but I highly anticipate the day when my contribution will be even greater, even more consistent as a physician.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My acceptance into medical school was one of the best moments in my life, but not for the reasons you may think — I’m achieving a lifelong dream, I get to prepare for my career, I’ll one day, have a way to pay off my student loans. No. Getting into medical school was (and still is) of extreme significance because it’s a testament to my faith, an illustration of my perseverance and my unremitting determination to never give up. My path toward becoming a physician is a little more than unconventional. Because of the grade deflation, I experienced at Boston University and because I have yet to master the art of standardized exams, I have endured a very long and arduous journey to MD. I have had three MCAT sittings. I have failed major exams. I have had difficulty with my coursework. I have endured three degree programs before even being accepted into medical school. I have taken post-baccalaureate science coursework at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, GA while simultaneously completing my MPH degree and thesis at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.
I have been told that I would never get into medical school. I have had a program return my application fee to me, stating that they did not have any advice and did not know who would ever accept me. I have had to apply for two application cycles before receiving a medical school acceptance. I have failed more than I would like to think about, but I have also risen to the occasion and endured. I am able to do so because of my strength that comes from the Lord. I am able to count it all joy because I know He called me to this and if He called me, then He will provide. As I grew up in the church, this affirmation may sometimes seem cliché, but in my life, I have seen Him make a way out of the impossible over and over again. My faith in God is the only thing I can 100% count on and it’s the only reason, I have made it this far.
My best advice to any young woman (and anyone in general) with a dream is to never give up. Never allow anyone to tell you that you can’t or that you won’t. Also, maintain flexibility with your life plan. In high school, I developed the “perfect” 15-year plan for my life and let me tell you, nothing went the way I thought it would. Since the first day of college, my little plan was thrown completely off course. At first, I was really disappointed because I had done “all the right things.” I had taken the AP classes, made the GPA over 4.0, performed well on the SATs. I had planned. I had prepared.
Over the years, I have learned that it’s okay for your life to take a different turn. Roll with the punches. If your plan works out exactly as you desire, that’s amazing! If it does not, do not be afraid to revise, recuperate and refocus. Just don’t quit. Also, refuse to be placed in a box. During 2nd year of medical school, I really struggled. I was in desperate need of an outlet and my mom and a few of my classmates encouraged me to start my fashion blog. My blog, Surgery And The City (surgeryandthecity.com), has become of extreme importance to me. On the blog, I discuss fashion, my favorite ways to dress for clinic (yes, that’s important to me!☺), tips for natural hair, mission trips, scholarships and of course, my #RoadToMD. It’s my passions, my journey, my voice all fused into one creative platform. Some might say, that a student like me should be focused solely on my coursework and the MD. I have chosen to do both. I used to try to wait for the perfect conditions — the perfect grades, the perfect time in my coursework, the perfect break time from school — before I engaged in anything outside of medicine. With much prodding from family and friends, I have come to realize that balance is key and on that notion, I am only going to move forward, continuing to explore all my interests. Live your truth. Live outside the box. Live your best.
Please tell us about Surgery And The City.
As a future physician, the experiences I am most proud of are my mission trips. I have participated in missions to Ghana as well as Haiti, assisting with research and clinical efforts that enhance overall health care in several communities. I was so incredibly inspired by our endeavors to increase access to care for persons who had gone months or even years without being seen for a particular condition. I have seen a similar need and devastation in my own backyard in Atlanta, Georgia and have participated in efforts to address disparities in health equity here as well. Most recently, I worked with the Mercy Care Street Medicine Team (Atlanta, GA). As a team, we provided wound care, mental health care and medical prescriptions to our homeless patients. Street medicine, mission trips, free clinics and volunteerism are the epitome of true medical outreach. I am elated that I will soon term each of these experiences ‘my career.’
I am also extremely proud of my blog! I love to be unique and a medical student with a fashion blog — well, that’s pretty unique! It’s not everyday that you meet someone who wants to discuss physiology and fashion in the same sitting. I love that my blog is a place where I can consistently share about my journey and encourage others to never give up on their own… all the while, inspiring them to be fashion forward! Ultimately, I enjoy using Surgery And The City to show that fashion is definitely a science worth dissecting! I’m so glad that I have developed a space for my creativity to co-exist with my career.
Who have you been inspired by?
When it comes to motivational women, I am extremely inspired by my mom, my aunt, grandmothers, great grandmother, friends, a host of women in my church and my Sorors of the Illustrious Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. They are each strong and talented in their own right. They are career women, they are mothers, they are wives, they are driven, they are Renaissance women. They inspire me daily and have each played an important role in supporting my journey to MD. Particularly within my family, women have always valued education. With my great grandmother working tirelessly until she earned her college degree and my mother constantly telling me, I can accomplish any educational feat, I have an amazing foundation upon which I stand to fulfill all of my dreams.
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
I think that women are particularly well-positioned for the field of medicine. Inherently, many women are nurturers. We are caretakers. We are providers. While there have been marked improvements in the representation of female physicians, there is still much work to be done. Even more startling in the field of medicine are the disparities in the representation of people of color. Research conveys that a significant number of patients prefer to receive treatment from physicians who are of a similar racial, cultural, and socio-economic background. Particularly in black communities, there is mistrust in medical personnel because of historical maltreatment endured by black people all in the name of medicine (i.e. the case of Henrietta Lacks, the Tuskegee Syphilis study). Combine this mistrust with the food deserts and lack of socioeconomic resources that plague many lower-income black neighborhoods and you will begin to see why such a disparate number of black people contend with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. It is imperative that more opportunities be created so that women and people of color alike can have more representation in medicine and fill these disparaging gaps in communities that are truly in need.
Contact Info:
- Website: surgeryandthecity.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surgeryandthecity/
Image Credit:
Tina J. Smith Photography
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