Interview with Trisha Mathelier, MD/MBA student at UCLA [Show Summary]

In today’s episode Trisha Mathelier, an MD/MBA student with the Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program, shares her medical school journey as well as what led her to decide on getting an MBA in addition to her medical degree. She fills us in on the uniqueness of the Drew/UCLA program, as it provides her with the opportunity to be part of a small and close knit community at Drew (just 24 students per class), but also with the wealth of resources at the large world-class research program at UCLA. Trisha then lets us know what she has planned for the immediate term and the future as an MD/MBA – she plans to be a clinician and also a serial entrepreneur.

An MD/MBA candidate speaks about her passions for both the clinical and business sides of healthcare [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Trisha Mathelier, MD/MBA student participating in the Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program. Tricia grew up just outside New York City and graduated from Harvard College in 2013. At Harvard she majored in Psychology, Social and Cognitive Neurosciences, and Global Health and Health Policy. She took a gap year between graduation and started at UCLA in 2014. She intends to earn her MBA in 2020 and her MD in 2021.

Can you tell us about your background outside of medicine? Where you grew up? What do you like to do for fun? [2:41]

I grew up in a suburb outside of Manhattan. I am an only child, and was very active in my church and youth group. I volunteered a lot through my church, but most of my time was spent cheerleading – I was on a competitive all-star team. Before that I did competitive gymnastics and dance. Every weekend practically throughout high school I traveled all over the east coast for cheerleading competitions on a nationally ranked team – from Maine to Florida. When I wasn’t in the gym I just enjoyed being a kid. I would go to the beach, go to the lake, essentially a typical suburban New York life. One piece of advice that I really took to heart around that time that I would pass along to your listeners is to do things that you are generally passionate about, because people will see the passion and know you are genuine and not just doing something to impress an interviewer.

How did you know you wanted to be a doctor? [5:31]

I had a really close relationship with my pediatrician - he was a close family friend. After every appointment he would take me into his office to get a sticker. Looking at all the degrees and awards I was so impressed and told him so, and he said I was smart and I could be a doctor, too. I decided I was going to be a pediatrician just like him.

My mom was studying then to be a nurse and as a single mom of an only child she didn’t always have a babysitter so I would sometimes go with her to classes or the lab or listen along to her audio lectures. She would play them nonstop like music, and there were times in the tape where the lecturers would stop and ask questions to keep the listener engaged. There was a failure to thrive question in newborns around jaundice. It was an open ended question, and I answered it and was right. My mom was amazed and asked how I got it right. I said, “I’ve been listening to your nursing stuff and think I kind of get it.”

You took a gap year between undergrad and med school. What did you do and are you happy you did it? [9:55]

I started working for an NGO my senior year in college c...