About

The Author

Hello my name is Miriam Sanchez. I was born and raised in rural North Carolina. I am a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants on a journey through medicine. I am now a first year medical student, after 4 gap years. I hope to one day become a primary care physician and practice in under-served areas. My community is a big part of my life and I can’t think of a better way to give back than to serve as a physician and improve the health of the people I love.

More about me: I used to work as a phlebotomist at a hospital, then as a medical assistant at a community clinic; all while simultaneously working as a teleheath coordinator for a mobile clinic that serves migrant workers. I love to craft, bake, learn, watch movies, travel, and spend time with my family. I am a fan of musicals, science, all things Disney, and beautiful sunsets.

The Blog

This blog will document the steps I have taken and will take on my path to medicine. I hope that this blog will inspire other pre-meds or any student to pursue their dream and not give up. I hope that by documenting my success AND my failures, others will see that anything is possible if you have the right mindset.

I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2019. I earned a Bachelors in Anthropology with a concentration in Medical Anthropology. I was so fascinated by the anthropological insight of medicine that I wanted to look into it further with the sciences; I wanted to pursue medicine. I completed a post-baccalaureate at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in December 2020. I also took a public health course at UNCG — along with my biology and chemistry courses — which further opened my eyes to the world of healthcare and medicine outside the scope of science. My anthropology background had taught me about the sociocultural, economic, and political factors of health on the body and my STEM classes taught me the biology behind the body. So, I decided to combine my knowledge of medical anthropology, public health, biology, and chemistry to explore the body as a whole; to intertwine these disciplines in order to better understand health and healing. This is more than just my journey to medical school, this is also a journey to understanding health BEYOND THE BIOLOGICAL.