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Part 2: "Which Hard to Choose" (Part 2 of 2)

What happens when you do everything “right” and still don’t get in? When two full application cycles pass with no interviews? When you abandoned a degree program only to face rejection?

In part two of this Provider Pulse episode, Dr. Angelo Cabal picks up his story in Chicago, where a hard truth and a single conversation with his mentor push him to walk away from an MPH program and start over. Back home in San Diego, Angelo studies for the MCAT, moves in with his parents, and finds the patient-facing work he’d been longing for as a lung cancer clinical research coordinator.

But even with strong letters and meaningful experience, two consecutive medical school application cycles end with no interviews. Angelo talks candidly about shame, self-doubt, and the moment he decides to take an expensive leap into a post-bacc program—buoyed by the support of his oncologists and patients who keep asking, “How are your applications going?”

From there, he describes finally getting interviews, being accepted to UC Irvine, and discovering that the hardest part was getting in. We follow him through clinical rotations, an away rotation at Harborview Medical Center, and matching into internal medicine in Seattle, where he now cares for immigrants and refugees in the International Medicine Clinic.

Angelo closes with a message for anyone who has been rejected, rerouted, or talked themselves out of medicine: never let someone make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want—and seek the mentors who help you believe that you do.

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Part 1: "Which Hard to Choose" (Part 1 of 2)

What does it take to become a doctor when you don't fit the mold? When you've never met a physician, when your high school gets overwhelmed by budget cuts, when you're the first in your family to navigate the American education system?

In Part 1 of Angelo Cabal's story, we follow his journey from a flooded house in Manila to a pediatric ICU in San Diego, through underfunded Southeast San Diego schools to the culture shock of UC Berkeley. Along the way, Angelo discovers that the study strategies that got him through high school won't work anymore, that his pre-med classmates seem years ahead of him, and that the path forward isn't always clear.

After graduating, Angelo tries basic science research, then public health—only to find himself in Chicago, enrolled in a Master's program, facing a growing certainty that he's chosen the wrong path again. When he reaches out to a faculty mentor he's known for just a few months, that conversation changes everything.

This is a story about structural barriers, culture shock, and the transformative power of mentorship. It's about learning to ask for help, and finding the courage to start over.

Topics: immigrant experience, medical education, mentorship, UC Berkeley, underfunded schools, pre-med culture, public health, career transitions

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In Part 2 of our conversation with Yuliya Speroff, Medical Interpreter Supervisor at Harborview Medical Center, we further explore the profound human work of medical interpretation. Yuliya pulls back the curtain on what interpreters witness every day—the cultural gaps, missed cues, unintended misunderstandings, and the invisible labor that makes cross-linguistic care possible.

We discuss the delicate balance interpreters in maintaining objectivity and accuracy while also acting as cultural brokers and advocates when necessary. We also explore how interpreters are uniquely positioned to provide insights into the patient experience. 

Yuliya shares memorable stories illustrating when meaning is lost, how family members unintentionally censor information, and why even well-intended provider phrasing—like “hit it out of the park” or “we’ll keep you comfortable”—can fail across cultures.

The episode also examines some of the risks and promises of AI, ambient note-taking, and machine translation in clinical encounters. Yuliya outlines why even tiny translation errors can have catastrophic consequences, and why interpreters’ expertise is essential in validating new technologies before they become standard in patient care.

Other themes you’ll hear:

• Why idioms and cultural references are so difficult to interpret  

• How power dynamics prevent interpreters from giving provider feedback  

• What trainees and future physicians need to know about working with interpreters  

• Why increasing diversity among clinicians improves communication for all patients  

• Why human interpreters remain irreplaceable, even in an era of rapid AI advancement  

You can find the Greek medical interpreter skits on the TikTok account of @yiannispac

Through humor, candor, and deep expertise, Yuliya shows that interpretation is not just word-for-word exchange between languages—it’s a practice of empathy, cultural insight, and relational care.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who works with interpreters, cares for diverse patients, or is curious about the future of cross-cultural communication in healthcare.

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Medical interpreter and educator Yuliya Speroff traces her path from a book-filled childhood in Siberia to high-stakes conversations in Seattle hospitals. 

She explains how medical interpreting in the U.S. often falls to interpreters juggling work for many different fields, how vicarious trauma can affect medical interpreters, and what it means to convey emotion faithfully—without theatrics. 

Along the way: a rare moment of acknowledgment that stayed with her, the cardiology lecture that hooked her on medical interpretation, and a reminder that empathy in care must be both deep and disciplined. 

Find more interpreter resources at Yuliya's blog: https://medicalinterpreterblog.com/

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Raised by Vietnamese parents who survived war, Tra Tran grew up believing that everything would be okay—but learning what that really means took her from New Mexico to the global stage and back again. She shares how generational resilience, privilege, and honesty shaped her work in refugee advocacy and self-discovery. 

In this conversation, she reflects on privilege, burnout, and rediscovering meaning through community-based advocacy with refugees in North Carolina through the Refugee Community Partnership.

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From a teenager navigating a new life in Toronto to becoming Canada’s first African woman to hold a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the health sciences, Dr. Bukola Salami’s story is one of resilience, representation, and the transformative power of mentorship.

In this episode, Dr. Salami joins host Dr. Duncan Reid to discuss her migration from Nigeria, how a high-school mentorship program changed her life, and the responsibility of mentoring the next generation.

Her reflections on belonging, community, and long-term vision offer essential lessons for aspiring healthcare professionals and educators alike.

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Franky Erra grew up on Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands—an archipelago shaped by ocean, community, and a deep history of resilience. In this episode, Franky traces his path from a close-knit childhood surrounded by family and coral lagoons to his current role as a Disease Research and Intervention Specialist with Public Health – Seattle & King County TB Program.

Through his story, we explore the Marshallese experience in America—from the legacy of U.S. nuclear testing and migration under the Compact of Free Association (COFA), to the challenges of navigating education, language, and healthcare systems far from home.

Franky reflects on the cultural bonds that sustain Marshallese identity, the mistrust that shapes health access, and his work building trust through tuberculosis outreach and community engagement.

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In this moving episode of the Provider Pulse Series of the EthnoMed podcast, we hear the extraordinary life story of Jeniffer Huong — one of Harborview’s original Cultural Care Mediators in the Community House Calls Program, which now serves patients in eight different languages.

Born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jeniffer’s early years were shaped by discipline, education, and family aspiration—until the Khmer Rouge forced her family from their home in 1975. She survived years of displacement, labor camps, and loss before escaping to refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines, and eventually resettling in Oregon.

In this conversation, Jeniffer reflects on the psychological toll of survival, the unspoken trauma carried by many Cambodian refugees, and how those experiences shaped her work at Harborview—helping members of the Cambodian community navigate illness, loss, and the U.S. healthcare system with empathy and cultural understanding.

Her story is one of survival, service, and transformation—reminding us that behind every patient is a layered history of resilience, migration, and healing.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of war, genocide, and trauma during the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia.

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What does it really mean to find your why in medicine?

In this episode, registered nurse Brandon Gim joins the EthnoMed Podcast Provider Pulse series to share his nonlinear journey—from growing up in a Korean immigrant family in South King County to finding meaning in community health and mentorship at Harborview.

Brandon reflects on the pressures of expectation, the role of self-doubt, and how authentic mentorship helped him rediscover purpose in care. Together, we explore what it takes to sustain compassion in a system that doesn’t always make space for it—and why discomfort and uncertainty can be signs that you’re growing in the right direction.

For pre-health students, trainees, and anyone considering a career in healthcare, this conversation offers a grounded reminder: purpose isn’t something you stumble upon once—it’s something you build through reflection, vulnerability, and connection.

The Provider Pulse series is part of the EthnoMed Podcast which highlights the human stories in medicine that shape how we learn, teach, and care.

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This episode of Provider Pulse goes beyond clinical roles and takes you behind the scenes with Kenn Arning, Harborview’s longtime mail clerk and self-described ‘postal detective.’ For more than four decades, Kenn has sorted 5,000 pieces of mail a day, tracked down misdirected packages, and built connections across every department in the hospital.

Kenn shares how his Quaker education, global travels, and passion for learning about people and the places they are from shaped his work — and why Harborview’s mission keeps him coming back year after year. This is a conversation about service, curiosity, and the unseen networks that hold a hospital community together.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Studs Terkel

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59649.Working

FIUTS: Foundation for International Understanding Through Students.

https://www.fiuts.org/

Visit EthnoMed.org for additional resources. Follow us on YouTube and Instagram @EthnoMedUW