Podiatry prides itself on being the “hidden gem” of medical careers: we get to be doctors, perform surgery, and live a pretty flexible lifestyle.

So, how did I find this hidden gem?

For the first twenty years of my life I was working to become a classical ballet dancer, I never even thought about a career outside of the dance world! In high school, and even in college, dance was pretty much all I thought about.

By the time I was a sophomore in college, . I noticed that most of my friendsI had taken a science course and really enjoyed it, so I signed up for some biology courses.

Over the summer, I was discussing my career confusion with a family friend and dermatologist Dr. Karen Nern. She suggested that I shadow her for a week at her clinic. After that week, I knew I needed to become a doctor!

When I returned to school, I changed my major to biology and began working towards my new dream.

I graduated in 2016, took the MCAT a month later, and began working in Dr. Nern’s office as a medical assistant. I applied to MD and DO schools, and began the extremely frustrating process of waiting for a response.

During the “waiting game” I began researching other options. I was dreading the idea of doing a post-bacc program, and the physician assistant route didn’t seem like the right fit for me. Then, I received a recruitment e mail from a podiatry school!

To be honest, I always thought that podiatrists went to allopathic or osteopathic medical school, I had no idea it was its own field. I was immediately excited about another career path, so I applied to podiatry school as well.

Within a couple of weeks I had shadowed local podiatrists, interviewed and been accepted to several podiatric medical schools!

I decided to attend Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine!

Two years later, I couldn’t be more happy with my decision. The more I learn about podiatry the more I love it. The podiatry community is positive and supportive, Cleveland is an awesome (and underrated) city, and I am on the path to becoming a doctor!