Hello everyone and happy Sunday. It’s our first June post, and we couldn’t be happier to start the month with such a sweet person: Dr. Rox. Dr. Rox is such a kind person, and I really enjoyed speaking with her. The moment you speak with her, she makes you feel like a friend, which is a rare quality in people. She is going to make an amazing physician one day, and I’m honored to share her story.
Dr. Rox didn’t instantaneously know she wanted to become a doctor. Actually, Dr. Rox was between pharmacy and becoming a physician. “I realized after shadowing pharmacists and talking to pharmacists that there’s less patient interaction than I would’ve wanted. I’m a true people person.” After discarding the idea of becoming a pharmacist, Dr. Rox went on to shadow her pediatrician when she was fifteen years old. This is where she fell in love with the field of medicine. “I liked the way she interacted with her patients, so I said, ‘Something about this seems right; something about this seems like home, something I could do for the rest of my life.’” To this day, Dr. Rox doesn’t know if she would’ve become a physician without her pediatrician’s guidance.
Dr. Rox eventually pursued her undergraduate education at UNC Charlotte, where she majored in Medical Anthropology and minored in Sociology. However, her journey through undergrad wasn’t smooth sailing. In fact, in her first semester of undergrad, Dr. Rox failed her anatomy class by three points.
“What happened is three things. You start to say, ‘Man, I’m not smart enough.’ It’s like imposter syndrome. Then you say, ‘Is it worth it to go back?’ So you have to build that resilience and confidence again. And then, the other thing is, other people are going to start doubting you because you failed. Especially in a competitive profession like medicine… I got lots of judgment for failing... But what people say doesn’t matter.”
Dr. Rox noted that though the judgment she received from her peers hurt her, it didn’t seriously affect her, because her entire life people had made negative comments about how she was younger, Black, and a woman. The reason Dr. Rox was able to persevere through the awful comments, she noted, was because of the resilience she had attained from her childhood. “I’m a spiritual person, and as a Christian, I truly believe we are God’s children. So if nobody is on my side, God is on my side. Even when I was really lonely, and I felt like the only one who believed in me, I knew at least God believed in me.” Support from her friends, family, and faith helped her push through her undergrad and through feelings of imposter syndrome and inadequacy.
Something I found interesting about Dr. Rox is how she strategized her GPA after her freshman year. “For me, I was really good at math. If I took a math class, I got an A.” Purposefully, Dr. Rox would take up to three math classes she didn’t necessarily need to help her raise her science and math GPA for medical school. This helped her go from a barely competitive science GPA to a competitive science GPA. “What are you good at? Are you good at math, biology, or chemistry?” Dr. Rox was also strategic about doing very well in her science labs in undergrad. She never felt she was particularly great at science, as she scored mostly B’s in her science courses. To combat this, Dr. Rox worked hard to do phenomenal in her lab because it was something that was graded more for hard work. This was incredibly intelligent for Dr. Rox to do, as when her lab grade was combined with her class grade, it bumped her final grade to an A. “I can work and I’m a people person--those are my strengths.” Dr. Rox learned from a young age how to gear her strengths towards success.
Dr. Rox, unlike most pre-med students, self-studied for the MCAT. Many students utilize services such as Kaplan or Princeton for training courses, books, and practice exams. While studying, Dr. Rox focused on her weaknesses as opposed to perfecting her strengths. For example, Dr. Rox knew she was going to score high on the verbal reasoning portion of the MCAT because she was a skilled writer and reader. She didn’t bother wasting too much time studying for this portion, because she knew she would do well on it. This approach to studying for the MCAT is hard for students. Many students want to focus on the things they’re good at as it’s easier to study that way, though the reality is, in order to be successful, you need to perfect the areas you’re weak in. “And don’t just take it to be done with it… I call that predictable failure.”
After undergrad, Dr. Rox pursued her medical school education at Philidelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Once she graduated from medical school, she entered her residency program at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Rox is currently a PGY2 there.
Dr. Rox’s most crucial role models throughout her journey were her parents. Her parents are very successful individuals, but not without devoting hours of hard work to their craft. When Dr. Rox was growing up, her mom was a teacher and a counselor, and her dad was in the military. This was inspiring to Dr. Rox because she knew what her parents had was authentic success and devotion; not something they had crafted to make their family look good. They also taught her about using the gifts she has to serve others and lead by example. Dr. Rox noted that she has so many role models, all of which she’s grateful for. However, nobody compares to the love, support, and direction her parents gave her growing up.
“My mom used to pick up people off the street with us in the car. You can’t really do that these days, but this was back in the day when it was okay. Just seeing that over and over… just that service aspect, not just picking people up and giving them rides home, was an example more than them telling us to pick up people. I just watched what they did, and that’s why they’re my role models. What they’re doing and what they have done in their life is not for show, and it’s very humble… They’re just doing what they think is right in the world. I think it all starts at home. That’s my biggest point.”
As for advice Dr. Rox wants to give to aspiring physicians? Here it is:
“I think the biggest thing is learning yourself early and learning confidence. Because you’re most likely going to have imposter syndrome and/or fail along the way… There are so many times when something could happen that could affect you, so when you know yourself…, you’ll be able to overcome it eventually.”
“If you really want this dream, think about why you want it. There’s a lot of burnout in medicine; there’s a lot of people who are unsatisfied. Suicide rates are very high… I just implore everyone to think about what they want to do in medicine. There are different avenues than medicine now. There are physician assistants, nursing,... there are so many different avenues, so think about why you want to become a doctor, because it’s a long road. But you can do it.”
“Remember if you fall down nine times, stand up ten. If you keep going, you’ll eventually get to where you’re going.”
“Finding a good support system. I think that’s huge.”
“For pre-meds, my biggest advice is [to] always preserve your GPA. Always. So, let’s say you have a class that you have a D in and you have two tests left. You’ve already taken two tests, so you’re halfway through, and it’s time to decide if you’re going to withdraw from the class or keep going. My personal advice? Withdraw… You’ll get a W, but you can always talk through that in an interview. Once you have a D or whatever, it’s hard to come back from that.”
“Really study for the MCAT, don’t just wing it.”
“If you do fail, try to identify why you failed. Don’t just put it off as a, ‘Well, you win some you lose some.’”
“When you feel anxiety, put it into action. Whether that be going to the gym or being like, ‘Hm, why am I anxious? Oh, because I have a test in a week that I haven’t studied that much for.’”
“If you know you want to do primary care…, there are programs where if you commit to their program for four years, they will pay for all four years of your medical school. After you graduate, you have to give them your four years after residency and you have to go into a primary care residency.”
Dr. Rox suggested she answer common questions she received, and I loved this idea. I’ve decided to post a few of the common questions she answered below:
S: Can you really major in anything for medical school?
Dr. Rox: Absolutely. Dr. Rox noted that she majored in Medical Anthropology and that at the time, Anthropology was one of the most likely majors to get accepted into medical school. Biology and Chemistry had surprisingly lower acceptance rates than Anthropology. “If you do major in something that’s not one of the hard sciences, it will strengthen your application to have a science minor.” This is so medical schools see that you are capable of doing well in science courses.
S: Do you have to do research?
Dr. Rox: “Do you need it? No. Is it good? Yes… I think you should do research.” Dr. Rox noted that how she got her research position in undergrad was by reaching out to professors via cold-call emails.
S: How can I make it affordable to apply to medical school?
Dr. Rox: There’s a database, Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) for the U.S. and Canada, that has all of the medical schools you can apply to for $50. There are also some programs where you can apply to 15 schools for free.
Dr. Rox was such a wonderful person to speak with, and I’m grateful for all of the wonderful advice she had to give. I truly feel her words can influence pre-med students out there; particularly people struggling with imposter syndrome and/or some form of failure. Dr. Rox is a great example of someone who is resilient and compassionate; she leads by a powerful example. I hope everyone feels as inspired by her as I do!
If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Rox, follow her Instagram account @drashleyroxanne or her blog www.drashleyroxanne.com.
Happy Sunday everyone!
EF