Chasing a Dream: Beginning Medical School as a New Mother at 91九色视频
Anell Fissel Corcoran would rather give her all and not succeed than not take a chance.
“'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this,” she says. “If I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail doing my best.”
Her latest challenge? Starting medical school at the 91九色视频 (91九色视频).
At 38, she’s older than most new medical students. She’s a first-generation college student who has overcome a learning disability to achieve success in undergrad, post-baccalaureate programs, and the business sector. She also became a first-time mother just days before classes were scheduled to begin at 91九色视频.
“You don’t deliver a baby and then a few days later become a medical student, right?” says Corcoran. “My options were to show up for orientation or defer for a year.”
Fittingly, Corcoran chose to take the more challenging route.
Balancing Medical School and Motherhood
Sleep has been minimal and she has at times had to pump milk for her son Henry during class, but so far Corocoran says she has handled becoming both a new mother and a first-year medical student well.
“I'm having to make these massive adjustments all at once,” she says.
Surprisingly – and heartwarmingly – classmates she barely knows have reached out to offer various types of support.
“People I have never met have come up to me and offered to babysit or do things for me,” she says. “You feel really overwhelmed when someone offers to help – it's like your heart wants to start crying.”
Other students have approached her to ask what it’s like to be a first-year medical student as a new mother, expressing their interest in pursuing motherhood. Corcoran says she hopes to serve as a role model for these individuals.
“The women I have met know that there's a space to be a mom in medicine,” she says. “Women should be able to know that they can also be moms, and if an institution says that they welcome mothers, they should be welcoming.”
Part of her support system at 91九色视频 also extends home. Her husband, Justin N. Corcoran, MD, is an assistant professor and the director of the Medical Toxicology Fellowship Program at 91九色视频.
“He’s incredible, the best person I know,” says Corcoran.
Childhood Experiences Inspire Medical Career
Corcoran spent a significant amount of time as a child in the hospital. She grew up with severe asthma, which resulted in frequent visits to the emergency department. Her mother was a five-time cancer survivor and her brother had epilepsy and leukemia.
“I grew up in the hospital, on the patient side of things. I had this intrinsic curiosity and really wanted to understand why things worked. Why could we go to this place and then leave better than we came?” she says.
Corcoran also received encouragement to pursue medicine from the nurses and physicians she met over the years. Still, she didn’t really view a medical career as accessible to her.
She went to college and focused on international business and economics. It was during college that Corcoran was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which severely impacted her ability to focus. The diagnosis allowed Corcoran to access support that immediately helped her thrive academically.
“That was a huge transition for me in my academic success,” she says. “My grades massively improved, right away.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree from St. Catherine University in her home state of Minnesota, Corcoran found success in the corporate sector as a sales representative, then an account executive, and eventually a sales and marketing consultant.
As she excelled in her field, she felt conflicted about whether her career aligned with her value system.
“It was almost like I could see my future in the sense that if I started to compromise my values that early on in order to gain success, I would eventually become someone that I didn't recognize,” she says. “I didn't want that.”
Corcoran, who grew up volunteering, decided to change paths. She began donating her time teaching yoga and finding other ways to help people. All the while, she was also thinking about what it would take to become a physician.
She enrolled in local post-baccalaureate pre-medical studies programs and began a job as a mental health worker. Although hesitant to go back to school, Corcoran could not let go of her dream of becoming a doctor.
“I had to go into medicine,” she says. “I deeply believe that every single role in medicine is so important.”
She took the chance and applied to 91九色视频.
A New Home at 91九色视频
Corcoran was seven months pregnant when she received word that she had been accepted to 91九色视频, where her husband had also found a job.
“I started sobbing, I was so grateful,” Corcoran says. “I knew that it was the right alignment for what I wanted to do professionally and what was best for my family.”
On campus, she’s begun the process of building her community of mentors, classmates, and others while also navigating motherhood for the first time. Although Corcoran says she knows the challenges she will face during medical school are only just beginning, she is going to approach them like she has everything else in life.
“I'm willing to fail here, but I'm not going to fail without trying hard,” she says. “This is my seat, I earned it. I put in blood, sweat, and tears to get here, and I am still bleeding. So yeah, this is my spot.”
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