This is our first podcast dedicated to the osteopathic student experience. Today’s guest is Ashley Roxanne Peterson. She’s currently a 2nd year DO student. As an undergrad, she attended UNC Charlotte, where she majored in Anthropology and minored in Sociology. She’s now in her second year at the Georgia campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Welcome, Ashley Roxanne!

Can you give us some background on your path to medicine? [1:35]

When I started at UNC Charlotte, I originally wanted to do something else, but through taking classes and volunteering I discovered that I loved medicine and helping other people in their journeys. Through shadowing, I realized medicine was the right path. I went straight to med school with no gap year.

Which experiences helped you see that medicine was right for you? [2:40]

Shadowing physicians – seeing how they interact with patients, how they use science. I saw that medicine was the marriage between science, different cultures, lifelong learning, and being a leader.

How did you fit science classes into your curriculum, given your social science major? [3:30]

I came in with some credit from high school, which was helpful.

I also took a heavy course load – at least 18 credits every semester (most people take 15).

At what point did you decide on medicine? [4:48]

Sophomore year. At one point I considered majoring in Chemistry, so I’d already taken some pre-reqs for med school, which helped.

Is your background in the social sciences helpful to you as a future physician? [5:37]

Yes! I feel I’ve been exposed to more social aspects of medicine – cultural competency (which is increasingly emphasized in medical training!), and how social determinants affect health.

I took a course on medical anthropology as an undergrad, where I studied how learned behaviors affect your health. I think that really helps me as a future doctor – understanding how my patients live every day: how culture and medicine meet.

Understanding people’s beliefs is also important, since people’s religious and cultural beliefs affect medical care, compliance, etc.

Did you apply only to DO programs, or to both DO and MD? [8:45]

I applied to both. I applied to schools whose missions fit my goals: a primary care perspective. In other words, whether they have a lot of primary care grads, put a strong emphasis on primary care rotations, etc.

Why did you choose the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine? [9:50]

The biggest thing then was the location – I have a lot of family in GA and AL, and lived here for a while when I was growing up (my father served in the military and was stationed nearby). It’s also not too far away from North Carolina. And one of my mentors went there for med school, and spoke really highly of it. And I chose it because of the mission – the emphasis on primary care.

What were the things your mentor told you? [11:25]

She highlighted the osteopathic integration in the program; the diversity of the class (background, age, experience, etc). She also said she was happy here, and that was meaningful to me.

What was the hardest part of the application process? [12:45]

The hardest part was realizing my weaknesses.

You want to be a top applicant with stellar MCAT, GPA, extracurriculars,