Allison Wallingford, MD

• Quick facts about me:

  Pronouns: She/her

  Undergrad: Pomona College

  Medical school: Johns Hopkins

  Residency: I’m currently an R2 at University of Washington PM&R

  Social media links: Instagram / Twitter

• What kind of identities do you inhabit?

  Asian American, Caucasian, female

• The path to medicine is not easy. Can you tell us why you decided to pursue it?

  I wanted to use my love of science and learning to better people's lives…That how simple and vague the answer was because honestly when I started my journey to pursue medicine, I didn’t really know what I was getting into! I keep pursuing it at each step in my career because of the intermittent moments of passion about a certain topic or rewarding patient encounters that stand out even amongst the stretches of tiring work and burnout.

• I think we all on some level have had moments where either others have told us we can’t or shouldn’t pursue medicine as a career, and moments where we’ve told ourselves that. Can you share one of those moments with us and why you decided to keep on pursuing medicine anyway?

  I've struggled with imposter syndrome a lot...probably the peak was during my medicine sub-I during MS4. What has helped me is encouragement from residents and attendings who I admire, telling me that they felt similarly early in their careers, wondering if they were smart enough, driven enough. Hearing this from mentors inspires me to work through my self-doubt so I can become a compassionate and skilled physician like them.

• How do you see a career in PM&R as advancing equity?

  I want to serve a diverse patient population in a major urban hospital. I also want to stay at an academic institution and provide mentorship to students and trainees from different backgrounds who may not have naturally been surrounded by structures that help them to navigate applying to schools, jobs, etc to succeed professionally.

• When did you realize that our systems/structures in society are inequitable? We recognize that for some, that moment happens early in life. For others that happens later, and for some it never happens at all. When did you have that realization, and when did you feel called to action?

  When I started med school in Baltimore, I saw how difficult it was for patients from low socioeconomic backgrounds to know how to navigate the complex healthcare system. I also saw how providers made assumptions about patients and decisions about their care based on the way the patient looked, the color of their skin, the way they dressed and spoke, etc.

• Can you tell us a little bit of your aspirations - either for your career or for the field of medicine (if you’re a medical student?)

  I am still open to exploring within the field of PM&R, right now I'm most interested in Neurorehabilitation. I want to stay in academia and be able to pursue research as a part of my career.

Last updated 12/2021