Nahyrka Linares Alamo

Nahyrka as a medical student

Pronouns: She/Her, They/Them

Nahyrka as a child

• A few basic facts about me:

  I’m currently a medical student at Ponce Health Sciences University.

• What kind of identities do you inhabit?

  I am proudly Puerto Rican, part of the LGBTQ community, a first-generation medical student, and an intersectional ally.

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

  Like most people in medicine, I have always enjoyed the sciences. To the surprise of most, I even loved organic chemistry. My personal journey towards medicine started when I was a little girl playing doctor to help "cure" my dad after his falls during mountain biking. I have always seen myself in a field where I can help others, but that is not exclusive to medicine. I think my real draw towards medicine is that I feel like I have a purpose. I can see tangible results with my patients, I can help those who need it, and ultimately, I can be a role model and help the community that I came from. I want patients who have not typically seen themselves represented in medicine to come into a clinic and immediately feel comfortable because they see themselves in me.

• Can you describe a challenging moment in medicine that made you rethink your career path?

  I dealt with a lot of self-doubt and imposter syndrome when I first reached university. I had undiagnosed ADHD and, at that time, felt like my struggles were due to my own shortcomings. I felt like I could not get myself to focus, I would rush to complete work before deadlines, and sometimes the executive dysfunction that came with ADHD won. I worried that I wouldn't able to succeed in medicine and that I would have to rethink my career path. After two years of struggling, I sat down with my mom and went through every single career choice you can imagine. In the end, we both acknowledged that medicine was the only path for me. I was able to talk about my struggles and receive help. While it may not be this way for everybody, my diagnosis gave me power. I finally felt like I could understand the way my brain worked--and most importantly, that it was not my fault. I dropped a couple of classes, switched to a new university, and started fresh. I gave it my all and made it into medical school.

• Why are you interested in this organization? Why equity and PM&R?

  As somebody who is a part of multiple minority groups, I see the importance of advocacy on a daily basis. We do not have to look far to see the injustice that has progressed medicine--from the "father of OB/GYN" performing unnecessary procedures on enslaved women without anesthesia, to the unlawful use of Henrietta Lacks cells, to intentional experimentation on Black Americans with Syphilus (and the purposeful witholding of the life-saving antidote), and many many more. But not all medical racism shows up in the same way--sometimes it is microaggressions where a physician does not believe that a woman is in pain, or is quick to label a child as "roudy" if they are a minority and "ADHD" if they are white. I think that it is our job, as future physicians, to make equity our main focus in treating patients. I specifically want to focus on PM&R to promote equity because I feel that one of the main factors in health is quality of life. I know that life expectancy drops 20 years after you cross a single city line in Baltimore, MD, and it correlates with wealth and race. I want to be part of the solution, where somebody is able to gain back their freedom and life, no matter who they are.

• 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 want to focus on prosthetics and limb loss in my future career. I have always been somebody who enjoys working with my hands and wants to be moving throughout the day--PM&R allows for both. In addition, one of the most important aspects in medicine is patient rapport. I feel like being in a field where I can have follow-up with my patients gives me the privilege of being a part of their healing process.

  I think that the book ""The Butchering Art"" describes the importance of progress in the fields of surgery, prosthetics, and rehabilitation best. The book acts as an anthology of so many individuals' life experiences after war and, as somebody who was in ROTC in university and is now a recipient of the Air Force Scholarship, I will serve in the military with the goal of doing everything in my power to make sure that every soldier has a chance to reintegrate happily into civilian life."

• Where can we find you on social media?

  Instagram

Last updated 04/2022