The EthnoMed Podcast

Provider Pulse Ep. 12: From Kuala Lumpur to Medical School - Chelsea Ng on Mentorship and Resilience

• Dr. Duncan Reid, MD @ EthnoMed.org • Season 1 • Episode 12

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In this episode of Provider Pulse, we continue our mission to elevate diverse voices from across healthcare, exploring the unique paths people take to their current roles.

Our guest is Chelsea Ng, an incoming first year medical student whose path to medicine has taken her from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and Seattle. Chelsea reflects on the challenges of adapting to new cultures and classrooms, the doubts and homesickness she faced as an international college student, and the resilience she built along the way.

She shares how community service, mentorship, and creative projects like Portraits of Humanity helped her discover her voice and shape her vision for a career in medicine. Chelsea’s story offers inspiration and practical wisdom for pre-med students navigating their own uncertain journeys—and a reminder that identity, culture, and community are powerful guides in becoming a healer.

You can learn more about the undergraduate led project Portraits of Humanity at www.portraitsofhumanity.org/ The project matches students interested in a career in healthcare with volunteer participants living with chronic illness in a series of interviews. The goal is to create a ‘portrait’ of the participant’s life story. From these conversations, a written narravite and an accompanying art piece are presented to the participant. 

Visit EthnoMed.org for additional resources. Follow us on YouTube and Instagram @EthnoMedUW

Chelsea Ng 05_22_2025

[00:00:00] 

Duncan: Welcome to the EthnoMed Podcast, a community voice in the clinic. My name is Dr. Duncan Reid, a physician in the International Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center and medical director of EthnoMed, a web resource for providers and patients with information for cross-cultural care.

Today we are continuing our interview series called Provider Pulse, where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles in healthcare, and how their cross-cultural experiences have helped them provide more informed care to a diverse patient population.

 Whether you are an undergraduate student considering a career in healthcare, a practicing health professional, or a member of the community, these conversations are for you.

Chelsea: I remember the first time I really felt homesick was when I was sitting in the student cafe, and I was eating this really greasy, pepperoni pizza and I was just like, this is so sad. Like, I am just so sad. I'm so sad to be here. I'm sad to be eating this. [00:01:00] This thing that I don't even like and it's so greasy and I can feel it coating my insides and I just miss home.

I miss home cooked food. I miss my parents. I remember that was like the first time I really felt like, wow. Like why am I here and do I even belong here? Like, am I gonna have to do this for the rest of my life? And I remember doing my first biology class in freshman year designed to be a weed out and I got like a 67 and I'd never gotten so low on a test before. I remember like sobbing over this. I'm like, I'm never gonna be a doctor. I remember sitting there like crying.

I'm not a crier too, so I was like, this is very out of character. But I felt very overwhelmed by like, oh, like all this expectation and pressure and like, am I gonna be able to do this? 

Duncan: In today's episode, we speak with Chelsea Ng as she prepares to enter medical school. Chelsea reflects on navigating competitive classrooms in Malaysia, adapting to the international school culture of Beijing, and confronting the homesickness and self-doubt of her early days at the University of Washington.

Along the way, she discovered a passion for community [00:02:00] service and for connecting with people from all walks of life, from rural Washington to immigrant and refugee communities in Seattle.

Chelsea: My name is Chelsea Ng. I am an international studentfrom Malaysia. I grew up in Kuala Lumpur. I spent some time in China and Singapore and now I'm here. I am going to med school in the fall. 

Duncan: So you said you're from Kuala Lumpur originally?

Chelsea: Yes, yes. Kuala Lumpur. I was actually born on the east coast of Malaysia. So if you guys don't know, Malaysia is separated into the peninsula and the East Coast. I was born there, but I grew up and spent most of my time in Kuala Lumpur. When I was 11 years old, my parents actually moved to Beijing for their work.

And so I followed along, completely different new culture. The language I wouldn't even say is the same. It's very different. and then I spent around four and a half years there before moving back to Kuala Lumpur and then I spenttwo years in Kuala Lumpur before coming to the us to go to school at [00:03:00] UW.

Duncan: And what kind of work were your parents in?

Chelsea: Yeah, so my parents both work in the oil and gas industry. And yeah, they were just given the opportunity to move abroad and they had a couple different options and they wanted us to experience as well what it was like living abroad.

Duncan: And then how was childhood in Kuala Lumpur?

Chelsea: Oh, it was, it was really great. But some may not say that hearing that I went to a local kind of government school a Chinese school actually, because my parents wanted me to be able to speak Chinese.

And so if you guys are at all familiar with local Chinese schools, very strict corporal punishments still practice there. Lots of homework. I remember very long days of you go to school, you end at one 30, you go back for home for a snack or lunch, and then you go straight to extra class until five 6:00 PM. I remember vividly my days kind of like ticking down to when I can watch Phineas and Ferb because it would come on at six 30 and I would really rush to try to get all my homework and extracurricular [00:04:00] classes out of the way It's just like a animated TV show on Disney Channel where it's just two boys who kind of have the whole summer and they make different inventions they have a platypus who's like a secret agent. So that was really how my days was structured. School starts at six and I end at one, go home for lunch break and then do extra tuition and like Kumon and all of those things. I also had piano lessons and then I would end at around like 6, 6 30 just in time for Phineas and Ferb.

Duncan: So 12 hour days, Very, very long. Mm-hmm. Wow. And how many days a week was that?

Chelsea: Five days a week. And I would also do extra classes on the weekends. Most of the times not, um, the whole weekend. 'cause we would always do church on Sundays and then Saturday I would typically have at least one or two classes.

Duncan: Did you have siblings growing up?

Chelsea: I do. I have an older sister and a younger brother.

Duncan: So did your older sister already go through this kind of

Oh yeah.

Schooling process.

Chelsea: Oh yeah, she definitely went through it. I remember [00:05:00] her actually having a distinctly harder time than I did. She was not as studious as I was for sure. And, got into a lot of, conflict with not wanting to go to school and not really the system's not for everyone, for sure.

And it's very much designed to have a certain type of student excel and have the rest kind of just fall behind.

Duncan: Wow. So it's like highly regimented. 

Chelsea: Yes, competitive.

very they would rank us all they basically give us the number by our test scores and then they'll rank each class too. And so in, in each class everyone's ranked and you are seated by your ranking. So you kind of know how someone's ranked, based on what class they're in, where they're seated in that class. And so definitely very, very competitive.

Duncan: Highly public.

Chelsea: Highly public.

Duncan: Wow. And how was school for you then? I.

Chelsea: I actually didn't think it was like very, very difficult. I loved reading growing up and then so I think studying and being able to sit down behind a book for long hours of time wasn't very difficult [00:06:00] for me. So I really think that actually it really taught me a lot of discipline.

I needed to complete my homework by this time. A lot of respect for kind of authority as well, whether or not that's a good thing. I think I did pretty well in that environment, but I could definitely see how a lot of my peers were struggling and how they were not really given a chance and opportunity to to succeed. You kind of do badly on one exam, you get dropped all the way to the end class and then you never see them again. You know? I could definitely see the perks, but also, uh, the cons in it, very much so.

Duncan: And what language was it in

Chelsea: Primarily Chinese, we would do one English class and one Malay class.

But everything else was taught in Chinese like Mandarin.

Duncan: and what did you speak at home?

Chelsea: I spoke Mandarin with my grandparents, but with my parents, I spoke English. They wanted us to grow up in an English background and they were also a bit more comfortable speaking English. They spoke English at work.

Duncan: And then for you were there ethnic distinctions in the class, in the school there as well? Yeah.

Chelsea: so in Malaysia it's actually composed of [00:07:00] three main ethnic groups. It's the Malay people, the Chinese people, and the Indian people. actually Malaysia, even though it's quite diverse in that way, it's pretty segregated, especially in the area of primary school because each ethnicity wants them to learn their own mother tongue.

And so actually in Chinese school it was mainly Chinese people with maybe one or two Malay or Indian students whose parents thought it would be a good idea for them to learn Mandarin.

Duncan: How was socialization? How was that in school? Do you have good friends? 

Chelsea: Yeah, I had actually a really tight knit group of people that kind of went around doing things together. I would say it wasn't hard to make friends. But I also would say that because my personality in general was quite as, especially as a young child, very kind of out there.

I was bubbly. I was loud. So I think it was also easy for me, to make friends in that area.

Duncan: And this is all before you were 11. Yeah, and then how was that transition to Beijing?

Chelsea: Oh so different. I [00:08:00] actually wrote about this in my college personal statement because that was one of the hardest things, I had to do in, in my young life at that time. Yeah, I went to an international school in Beijing where obviously the primary language was English.

It was a British international school, so everyone there was much higher socio economic status. They were from all different countries around the world, met so many different people. Obviously everyone spoke with British accents and school was much more relaxed. I remember my first week we were doing math that I had done already like two years ago.

And in other classes we were making presentations on the adaptations of penguins and the different dynasties in China and stuff like that. So really more like fun, kind of more holistic things, rather than kind of rote memorization and just like doing things over and over again what I was used to in Malaysia.

Duncan: And how was that transition to Beijing? Was it like an exciting thing socially for you, or did you face it with some resentment? I.

Chelsea: Oh, a hundred percent. A lot of resentment. I really loved my life in Malaysia. My [00:09:00] friends, I had a really tight knit group of friends. I was doing really well in school, like I said, and so I really loathed to be taken out of that comfort zone, especially to this place where I had never been to before.

It was bitterly cold when I arrived. It was in the winter. So different from the tropical Malaysian summers and my English, even though I did speak it at home, you could not compare it to someone who spoke it at school and everything. And so I definitely had an accent.

It was made fun of a little bit in the beginning and yeah, it was just hard. I spent a lot of time in the library during lunchtime just reading books. And yeah, that was kind of my first half a year before I really kind of felt into my skin and really felt at home there. But yeah.

Duncan: And then from the social side of things, was it very different than it was back in?

Chelsea: Yeah, very different I think back in Malaysia. I think it was easier for me because I did well in school and people actually were the most quote unquote popular if you did well in school, we didn't really have that popularity thing, but if you did well, people knew 'cause you were [00:10:00] ranked.

And so people usually, their parents want you to be friends with them and stuff like that. And so people really congregate around you. But in this international school, I think this was the same thing, but for sports. So you really see for like the sporty people were the ones that were definitely the cooler people and had all the friends and new people from the year above and they knew all the seniors.

And so I was definitely not very sporty in the beginning, so, or just at all, but I, I find my place.

Duncan: And then what kind of academic interests did you have or, just life interests did you have there?

Chelsea: Yeah, so I think one thing that really has been a thread growing up was really participating in community service. I think ever since I could or even knew what volunteering was, I wanted to get involved in that. And so from the beginning in Beijing, even though school was hard for me, I did find like somewhere I could volunteer.

And for me, that was a ranch called the Hope Ranch. So it's therapy on a horse for kids with developmental disabilities like autism or cerebral palsy. And so I would volunteer there every weekend. [00:11:00] And yeah, it was just a really nice constant for me amidst all of the change and the uncertainty, and really got me to connect with the community there as well outside of that international school bubble as I would call it.

So it was really cool.

Duncan: Where did that interest in community service come from?

Chelsea: I was very much involved in the church from a young age, and I could see my parents very much get involved in a lot of community service, even though I didn't really understand them. 

So I think if I could pinpoint it, I think it would be just from the modeling of the church and from my parents. And so I think I was very interested in that from a young age.

Duncan: And that's a thread that's continued. Mm-hmm. Through your life now.

Chelsea: Yeah, so my church, um, right now in Seattle has a couple of community organizations that they put on especially for international students, refugees. So I just came back from a potluck at the Language Institute, UPC, where I tutored for, a period of time a Ukrainian refugee in English.

 

Duncan: So how many years in Beijing then? 

Chelsea: Yeah, I was there for four and a half years. [00:12:00] And by the time I was like very loathing to leave as well. I had so many friends, but I think the nature of international school is that people are coming and going. And so I think that was one thing that I also learned to really adapt to is change and really being able to see the good and bad in things. And so I had a lot of friends who were just there for two years and people kind of come and go when their parents work or some people were attached to the embassy. And so I was there for four and a half years in total in Beijing and before moving back to Malaysia.

Duncan: And then what was the demographics like of the international school?

Chelsea: It's very diverse. A lot of Korean people. There's a lot of people from the UK, there's quite a few Americans, there were quite a few Malaysians as well. From Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, everywhere.

 

Duncan: You mentioned some of the sports culture and the popularity culture. In what other ways did that kind of international, demographic, manifest itself and how different it was from your Chinese school.

Chelsea: Well, we had a lot of extracurriculars, but this time it was more like fun related. I joined an origami class [00:13:00] or there was things like confidence building or public speaking. So I got to learn a lot of these like outside skills that I never really was even exposed to in Chinese school.

So in Chinese school, like extracurriculars are extra classes. So we go there and we memorize essays and we like do extra homework outside of that to try to get ahead of the curve. But in here it was very much geared towards learning outside of the classroom and so they even had cooking classes you can learn in new language, all of those things.

So I thought that was really cool.

Duncan: And then how did the move back to Malaysia.

Chelsea: Yeah, I mean this time I think I was a little bit more prepared. I was like 15, 16, obviously daunting, but at this point I had a couple moves under my belt, or at least one big one. And so I came back. I also had gained a lot of confidence during those years in Beijing as well, and I felt like I was ready for it.

It was the middle of a two year program, so I moved halfway through it. So it was okay actually, moving back, but it didn't really feel like home anymore to me, Malaysia, just [00:14:00] because I had been gone for the past four years. So it was different in that sense, just kind of figuring out how to do daily life again and like be in that routine and get used to just being back in Malaysia,

Duncan: And academically, was it a struggle?

Chelsea: it wasn't actually a huge struggle for me.

I had always academically been, I guess more inclined academically. And so it wasn't, it wasn't very big struggle.

Duncan: And what were you interested in at this time? I.

Chelsea: I had always like, just because of my community service background, had an inkling that I wanted to do medicine, but obviously you can't really do any of that in high school. and before that, just because there was not many opportunities to, so I was also really interested in anything like reading, like stories.

I loved history. I excelled in history. I love geography. I loved like a lot of the, the social sciences and English. English was like my top subject actually even compared to science or biology. 

Duncan: And then, so you spent one and a half years, two year program?

Mm-hmm.

And then what was the next [00:15:00] step from there?

Chelsea: Yeah. I did this community college thing in Malaysia where it prepares you to go to school in the US So you could either do two years in Malaysia and two years in the us. Or you could do one year in Malaysia and three years in the us.

So I was doing that one year program. One plus three is what we call it. It was called the American Degree Transfer Program. So there's a few specific programs like that in Malaysia that was available.

Duncan: Why the US?

Chelsea: Well, my parents actually were international students back in their college days to the us They went to Kansas and Arkansas.

So they have pretty fond memories of the US and because of the political system in Malaysia and they've always wanted to give us more opportunities to excel and to do something different than just stay in the country. And so we kind of went back and forth between Australia, the UK 'cause Malaysia is a commonwealth country.

So a lot of my peers actually went to the UK. But I think just the whole system, the liberal arts system and the US really appealed to me. And my parents [00:16:00] obviously had nothing but good things to say about their time in the US so I think it was a very natural choice.

Duncan: And then how did you end up in Seattle? 

Chelsea: When I was applying, I had family in LA so very much was encouraged to apply to the West coast. My sister actually went to school a year before me. And she went to University of Washington and I had never even heard of Seattle before then outside of Grey's Anatomy. And when my parents went there and they kind of sent her off and they sent back photos and I was like, this is beautiful. And so I was like, okay, this is interesting. Let me do a little bit more research. And the UW had a really good pre-med program, great med school, so I was like, maybe this is the place, but had always sworn that I would never follow my sister.

 I don't wanna be seen as one of those girls who are following their sister. But, so I was interested in other places too. But at the end of the day, I think I also wasn't super keen to go to school in California. My, I guess impression of California at that time was kind of it's too fun.

Like there's too many things to do that would get me distracted from my studies, so I was like, [00:17:00] I'll come to Seattle.

Duncan: Your sister already blazed a path for you. You liked it on its own terms. Mm-hmm. How was that transition?

Chelsea: Coming to the US. Yeah. I mean it wasn't super easy 'cause my parents were like, oh, since your sister's there, I guess we won't come to send you off. So you just bring everything you own in two bags and you come here by yourself. And I was like, okay. And I was staying in the dorms the first year.

I think change has been easier and easier for me after every single change. And so I think I have a pretty good perspective in that sense, where I'm super open to trying new things and going to new places. So at the beginning it wasn't super hard for me, but  maybe two or three weeks in, 

I remember the first time I really felt homesick was when I was sitting in the  student cafe, and I was eating this really greasy, pepperoni pizza and I was just like, this is so sad. Like, I am just so sad. I'm so sad to be here. I'm sad to be eating this. This thing that I don't even like and it's so greasy and I can feel it coating my insides and I just miss home.

I miss home cooked [00:18:00] food. I miss my parents. I remember that was like the first time I really felt like, wow. Like why am I here and do I even belong here? Like, am I gonna have to do this for the rest of my life? Eat this greasy piece of pizza for the rest of my life? 

And so yeah, I remember that was a very kind of visible and the first time really where I really felt homesick. But apart from that, I also really tried to put myself out there. I would go to different events and really try to look for peers and friends and, look for different communities and find belonging in different ways.

And I think by the end of the first quarter, I really felt like I would really like it here.

Duncan: And what kind of things did you get involved in?

Chelsea: Yeah, so in the beginning I didn't wanna jump straight into the pre-med I was kind of overwhelmed actually, like looking at all the things I needed to do. So I was like, let me just take this first year easy moving here from a new country. And so I did a lot more social things, kind of looked for more community related events.

I tried to find like a church community then, I wanted to do at least [00:19:00] one pre-med thing. And so I actually found out there's this thing called Healthcare Alternative Spring Break, which is a club that exposes pre-med students to rural Washington. And so I was like, wow, this is so cool. I've at this point had been to US once in my life before this just to visit my uncle in LA and kind of seen California, but I have no concept of what this rural America really seems like. And I obviously was aware that there was a big rural population, so I was like, this is a really cool thing to join into.

And so, yeah, I applied, wanted to go on a trip and I knew it was a competitive thing. You have to apply to it. so I was like, I'll try my luck and see what happens.

So that was kind of two of the big things that I was involved in freshman year.

Duncan: And where was that? Uh, he was in eastern Washington.

Chelsea: It was, , all over Washington, but actually that was the year that COVID hit so I didn't get to go. I was accepted into a position, but I didn't get to go

Duncan: 

But then you're really thinking more seriously about medicine at this time, it sounds like.

Chelsea: Yeah, for sure. I think, at this point I still haven't had a huge exposure to medicine. In my last year of high school, I, got to shadow [00:20:00] both physical therapists and a surgeon. Very interesting mix. I got to see like two surgeries and I thought it was so cool and I was very interested in medicine at that point, but didn't really understand or know what that actually looked like. 

Duncan: And what were you majoring in at UW?

Chelsea: I was majoring in biochemistry when I first came in, but I ended up switching out of it, in my junior year to biology, just the molecular, cellular developmental biology, 

Duncan: and were you enjoying biology?

Chelsea: I actually wasn't enjoying biochemistry, but the way that UW works, it's the first two years you do a lot of weedout classes, so things that you kind of just have to do so like your gen chem, your biology sessions, all of that designed to really weed you out is what they call it.

And they'll tell you like, oh, in here there's 500 of you here and I bet like 50% or even more are wanting to be pre-med students, but by the end of this it will only be like 10%. And so very encouraging things to hear it

Duncan: They really say 

Chelsea: Yeah.

In freshman year and stuff. And the people [00:21:00] constantly tell you that this is gonna weed out for nothing.

We're supposed to weed all you guys out, 

Duncan: And how was it academically compared because you'd been to some pretty strenuous schooling already.

Chelsea: Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think it's very similar. A lot of people who come who are kind of excel in high school and before then, and then they come to college. I think I had a very similar experience where I was like, wait, this is a lot out of my league. Um, I'm no longer a big fish in a small pond. I'm a small fish in a big pond.

And I remember doing my first biology class in freshman year designed to be a weed out and I got like a 67 and I'd never gotten so low on a test before. 

And 67 mind you was like the median I think it was like one or two points above the median and the median was like a 2.8. And so I was like, I cannot be getting a 2.8. 

I remember like sobbing over this. I'm like, I'm never gonna be a doctor. 

Like this is gonna be what set me back if I can't even do well on my first year, like freshman year is supposed to be the quote unquote easiest. Like, how am I gonna excel? Even in moving forwards. 

I [00:22:00] remember sitting there like crying.

I'm not a crier too, so I was like, this is very out of character. But I felt very overwhelmed by like, oh, all this expectation and pressure and like, am I gonna be able to do this? 

And then I like ended off that class with a really pretty high grade actually. So I was like, actually in the main scheme of things, a lot of my bad scores didn't really matter.

I think it's, more of in the premed journey, more of an upward trend is how it is and like how are you taking this setback and how are you moving forward rather than, having that one grade or one exam defined you.

Duncan: But how were you able to, because it sounds like you were such an excellent student your whole career. How was it dealing with adversity? It sounds like maybe for the first time.

Chelsea: Yeah. Yeah, it was, for the first time, it was felt very jarring. Kind of. A lot of my identity was placed on being a good student and excelling at school, and so I think that in the beginning I was very much like, who am I now without my good grades? Like am I just. Like, what am I here for?

And I really had to lean on my community and, I think that really helped. I had a couple [00:23:00] friends who were in my Christian ministries and that I could really share with. And, I think we got through that together and they were like, let's study together and let's, do things together and let's not fall in this hole of who am I?

And I think that really helped me, just being part of community, especially in freshman year where everyone's so alone as well and really trying to find friends, like true friendship. And so that was something that really helped me.

Duncan: And these friends, did they have similar backgrounds to you?

Chelsea: Yeah, one of my friends, yes, she was international student as well. But I have other friends who were born here and raised here, and so they were like, girl, it's okay. They might not be in premed. So I was like, you don't understand. But, they helped, they gave me a different perspective.

They're like, really? It's not gonna matter. So I think that was helpful.

Duncan: So that was the first year, and it sounds like you adapted quite well. You were going into biology after this biochem, flirtation, and then and it sounds like you were getting involved in a lot of different things. How were you managing that?

Chelsea: Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think I've always been someone who likes to keep [00:24:00] busy. I never liked to just be at home and be idle like I had to be doing something. And so I really jumped into the whole pre-med kind of bucket. so it was my junior year and I was like, I have two years.

I don't have time to waste. I must be doing things. And so I signed up for this thing called COPE where I needed to get my volunteer hours in. I like reached out to a lot of people to shadow them in my junior year. I became president of three different clubs. 

 I started another thing called Portraits of Humanity, where our goal was to get students to interview people were living with chronic illness.

And then from there, pair up with art students to create this art portrait of them as well as a narrative portrait of their story either living with chronic illness or whatever they wanted us to represent in that story. And then also, I became president as well in my senior year of healthcare Alternative Spring break.

 I was a director of shadowing operations in my junior year for that club. And I got to go on that trip and it was really life changing. Was really welcomed with open arms into that community. It was Davenport, which is [00:25:00] Eastern, Washington, around 45 minutes from Spokane.

And I got to see how medicine is practiced there and I was truly entranced by how people were living their day-to-day lives there. And I wanted to continue to have other students be able to experience that. 

 

Duncan: No, it's just really impressive. But how did this Portraits of humanity idea come about. 'cause I think just coming up with an idea and then executing it, it sounds pretty, it sounds like a lot.

Chelsea: Yeah, it was very, very difficult the first few months. Actually the idea came from one of our team members, his name is Pierth and he was the one who kind of collected us a little bit, like the Avengers, like here from everywhere. I was actually in the medical humanities journal called Capillaries.

And so he reached out there and he wanted to do something with medical narratives and medical humanities. And so he didn't really have an idea, kind of had a small idea, and he came together and he was like, what are you guys' idea? And then we just took a couple weeks to brainstorm to see where the gap was and what we ourselves wanted to take part in and what we were passionate about.

And then from there we reached out to a lot of mentors. A lot of [00:26:00] advisors. We talked to Rita Sharon, the person who even coined the phrase narrative medicine. we reached out to everyone. We reached out to the director of Fred Hutch. We reached out to a lot of big people, and actually most people did respond to us. Our first real, like true mentor who was here for the long term was Kathleen Dorcy from the Seattle Council Care Alliance.

And she sat down and really helped us to develop what the portraits of humanities that we have now, and she connected us with some sickle cell patients, and those were our first two pilot patients as well.

Duncan: Was it intimidating reaching out to all these people, or were you just so gutsy?

Chelsea: I think it that there's a veil of email. It's not like we had to, go up to someone and then really try to catch their attention. we kind of sent out a lot of cold emails and just told ourselves if we get a reply, like, awesome, if we don't, it's okay.

Move on. And so from there, we just sent our emails to everyone and everything and so. A lot of them actually gave us, oh, I'll do a Zoom with you. And in the Zoom they'll be like, you guys are gutsy to like reach out to us. And we're like, oh, [00:27:00] really? But yeah, we got what we wanted. So.

Duncan: And what kind of information were you getting from those interviews?

Chelsea: Yeah, we wanted to try to put in a lot of different fields. At first we were toying with the idea of comics. And so we reached out to the person who started graphic medicine which is like a comic strip style of reflecting on their experiences in healthcare and sharing about their patient stories through comics. And so we reached out to a lot of mentors. From there, we reached out to mentors in the bioethics. Trying to see whether or not what we're doing is okay and, how we can do it in a very respectful manner 'cause we are talking to people living with chronic illness. We reached out to really like so many different fields, anything that really even touched upon what we were trying to do. We reached out just for advice to ask what do you think of our project? Do you think this is feasible? Do you think this is necessary? Do you think, you would like to participate in something like this? Do you think this will be helpful for the community? That was kind of our goal, just to really get advice.

Duncan: And what did people say? I.

Chelsea: I think we got a lot of positive reception. They were like, this is really awesome.

You guys are really doing good work. People don't [00:28:00] always talk directly with patients, especially being from the pre-med side, just as students . Who are we? We don't really have much stake in this game. But we did see this gap because healthcare workers are so overworked, like who's gonna come in and do that?

Duncan: And now. How did you form this special connection with Dorcy?

Chelsea: Yeah, so we got in touch with, like I said, the director, Fred Hutch and so I think when it came directly from the director, she was like, oh, this must be like an important thing. And so she really poured into us a lot.

She met up with us weekly and reviewed all of our documents at that point we had nothing. We had to really build things from scratch. There was a lot of conflict within the team that we had to figure out and give each other roles and see who wants to be president, who wants to be, it's kind of, it was kind of strange.

 It was really awesome mentorship that she really poured into us and gave us a lot of advice. Really sat down and, and said like, you guys need to focus on diversity too, like this. She saw us as our team. I think we were like mostly POC actually, and she was like, why are you guys not having a specific [00:29:00] piece to target diverse communities.

And so that's from the get go was part of it as well.

Duncan: It sounds like she believed in your mission and it sounds like she was really trying to take care of you guys.

Chelsea: Oh yeah, for sure. I think more than anything she really was taking care of us. She saw us as these like bright eyed students who maybe were a little bit out of our league, but she really sat us down and grounded us and poured in a lot of her own time to help us

 

Duncan: And then you graduated and then what were you doing after you graduated?

Chelsea: Yeah, so I was working at Seattle Children's Research Institute as a clinical research coordinator. At first I wanted to join this lab just as an intern, I knew I didn't have much research experience and I, I felt like med schools wanted to see that on my resume, even though I wasn't super interested in research.

So I, wanted to go in as an intern and it just so happened that their clinical research coordinator got into med school, and so then they offered me the position. So it really, really worked out because the research that they're doing also completely aligned with my [00:30:00] interest. One of the projects that they were working on focuses on youth with kidney transplant and their narratives.

And so how kind of reflecting on their own stories can really help with self-management, self-efficacy, and really benchmarking, like looking at their own story and how that can really help them in their own journey with their kidney transplant.

Duncan: And then what else were you doing in terms of thinking about what areas of medicine you were going into, were you still shadowing during this time?

Chelsea: Yeah, so that was actually the time when I met you Duncan, where I was like cold emailing. I was also volunteering at Swedish Hospital and I found that I really connected with patients who were not from the US and from like immigrant backgrounds. I always would love to strike up conversations with the patients I always saw myself like, sitting with patients for like one, two hours and those were usually patients who are of immigrant backgrounds and I could really, connect with them there.

And so I wanted to explore what that would look like in medicine. And so I kind of searched up in Google, like international clinic. I was like, medicine international question [00:31:00] mark. And then I think the International Medicine Clinic at Harborview popped up and I was like, this is really cool 'cause I'd never seen anything like this, like a whole clinic kind of dedicated towards internationals and like people not from here. And so I reached out to, I just cold emailed a few different physicians and Yeah, you, you got back to me. So that was really, really awesome.

Duncan: And then how was your experience in the clinic?

Chelsea: It was amazing. Just right from the get go, the staff, the different, interpreter staff, the MAs, they were all so welcoming and warm and friendly, and I just knew that this was a really good environment.

I could see why you loved being there and yeah the staff was so warming and from so many different backgrounds. I just spent so long chatting with them about where they were from and what languages they speak. And I just thought that was so cool that they're hiring people from the community to give back and serve their own community.

And so I thought that was just like, that was genius. Like why hadn't anyone thought of that? And then just getting to see each patient with you, like shadowing and despite the language barrier. For me, I always thought like language barrier was so hard. [00:32:00] I've shadowed in different clinics before and I saw people having to interpret through a phone device and I was like, this sucks.

Like, how is this even working? I don't even know if the patient would get anything out of this. So being able to see how that's done properly with care and with intentionality in the International Medicine Clinic with your in-house interpreters and the interpreters who really know the culture.

I just was like, wow, there's a way that it can be done properly and this is how it's being done here. So I was very, very impressed.

Duncan: Do you think you're going to incorporate elements of international care or treatment of people from these communities in your future? 

Chelsea: Oh, a hundred percent. I think it's really part of my calling to even go into medicine or even why I'm in the United States in the first place. I really feel that way. I really feel the most at ease and fulfilled when I am like, interacting with people who have found themselves here.

Whether that be my whole career like you are, or, at least one part of my career where I'm part of an organization or something like that, I definitely wanna be able to find different ways to implement working [00:33:00] with international community through medicine and through healthcare.

Duncan: And we're also grateful for the work that you did with EthnoMed.

Chelsea: That was really, really fun.

You invited me to come onto this project to work on TB profiles. And we got to go into Tukwila to the Riverton Methodist Church to interview, some people from the Congolese community. 

It was really awesome. I just, I've never even been to that part of Seattle before. And just getting to see that was really eye-opening. Just seeing how the community is living and just the number of asylum seekers there and just listening to people who have come here and journeyed so far and so long just to come here and not be able to find work, not be able to even speak the language.

It was very eyeopening. Hearing the experiences plus that own research, I feel like yeah, I learned a lot from, from my time in EthnoMed.

Duncan: What's your next step? What's going on?

Chelsea: Yeah, so I'll be going to medical school in the fall. I've been accepted to UDub Spokane, so I'll be heading there for med school. I am very [00:34:00] excited to go to a school that really prioritizes the underserved and i'm really excited to see how those opportunities can manifest in med school and how I can continue to really work with the communities that I want to in the future in my career as a physician.

Duncan: It's incredible hearing your story. 

 So what advice do you have now looking back on, on the things that got you through there and made you successful?

Chelsea: Yeah, in the beginning I wasn't really sure what what part of medicine I was interested in. And that's very normal. And I think being able to really experience different things, go to a different talks or, go to something that will help you learn something about a different field you're in any part interested in it.

And then after you found that really focusing on that. And going all in and very much exploring that part of it. I think for me it was with the underserved more specifically with the international community and I think that really sparked my joy in medicine and really also helped me to find my passion in it.

And that really comes across especially when [00:35:00] you're in interviews and even in through your writing. I think admissions directors can definitely tell if you're doing something just for the resume and you don't really have a passion for it, you're just doing it because you think that it's good.

So I feel like being intentional and putting yourself out there, I think really making the most of your time at UW or their time at school, I feel like no matter what school it is, there's always so many resources, whether that be just people that you're talking to, that you've encounter, and then just be brave to be like, Hey, can I get coffee with you and just hear more about your story?

I think I've got so much advice just from doing that and listening to people from different walks of life and just hearing their advice. And then just really taking advantage of all the resources that the school will give you to meet new people, to explore your interests and to really get involved.

 That I think really was the highlight of my college career and my pre-med career. And outside of just trying to get into med school, it really helped me to find so many new friends. Really introduced me to the [00:36:00] community, like in Seattle, in so many different ways that I never would've been able to, and meet so many different community members that I wouldn't have been able to as well.

And so I feel like that is one of my, I guess advice for our pre-med.

Duncan: Yeah I think that's the through line that I see with you too, is that there's always connection. You're not doing anything alone. Even with Portraits of Humanity, there's a whole group of people. 

So I think that is the big takeaway that I'm getting from you is like you're doing things with other people.

Chelsea: Yeah, I think community is so, so important. I think we're made to be social creatures. Even though you may not be an extrovert, I think there's always a balance in that. But I think just being able to put yourself out there and not being afraid of not making that friend. I think it's really daunting to me, especially in freshman year just having to introduce yourself over and over and over again and make that small talk and it can seem so exhausting and draining. But I think not being afraid to take that next step of like, Hey, I think you're really cool, like, would you like to get coffee?

 I think most of the times, most people are also looking for connection and they're also [00:37:00] wanting to say yes. And then from there they'll introduce you to their friend who knows this, or they'll be like, oh, you're interested in medicine. I have like, my mom's a doctor.

You know, there's so many connections that I feel like you can make and really find in the community around you. And also helps you to feel connected to the community. It's a part of the reason why I love Seattle so much, just the community that I've made here.

Duncan: And I think just your experience with Kathleen Dorcy and it sounds like a lot of these mentors, I think mean really well. I think people are busy, but it sounds like you've gotten a lot of nice feedback and time from people people that you just completely met at random. 

Chelsea: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you're one of those people as well. I feel like I always am very overwhelmed by gratitude. Whenever I think of these people who have poured into me, who really didn't have to, who took out a time of their really busy schedules, and actually you find a lot more people are willing to do that than, than not actually. So I feel like being able to look for these mentors are also a skill. So I didn't necessarily [00:38:00] have that skill and my trick was to cold email everybody and anyone who replied back and I really gelled with, I was like, okay, maybe, maybe this is it. And it was never really a formal relationship. I was like, can you be my mentor? It was more kind of naturally, how I ended up. And I think really expressing that gratitude as well was something that it was in my nature to do. And so I think looking for people who are older, who have walked the paths that you want to walk in or you think are interested or they can connect you to people who have, I think that's really important as well.

Duncan: Have you given much thought to your role as a mentor now that you're going into medicine?

Chelsea: Oh yeah, for sure. I was recently invited back to the healthcare alternative spring break to do a big orientation with like a hundred plus pre-med, pre-health students. And I gave a little bit of a intro into my background and my journey, and I opened up my email to everybody who was there.

And I've gotten so many replies and I spent so many hours just meeting people at coffee shops and reading their essays. And when I read people's essays, [00:39:00] I spend like two hours on them. So I, I really feel like I wanna give back to what I've gotten and I honestly really enjoy it. Just like being able to see someone where I was maybe like two or three years ago, and then being able to give them that advice that I wish I heard or at least share what, I went through and how it encouraged them or support them in that way.

It has been really fulfilling as well.

Duncan: Well, thank you so much for your time today.

I think.

just hearing your story is really inspirational. On. I hope that a lot of pre-meds now can find strength in everything that you've accomplished and everything that you're looking forward to, and I hope that we can stay in touch.

I Look.

forward to, I think there's a lot of projects that I think we can work on

Chelsea: Oh yeah, and you know me busy, busy and I love to keep myself busy and especially, I can't say no to things, so

Duncan: Okay.

Chelsea: No, for sure. Thank you for having me here. Noted.

Duncan: Okay. Thank you. Bye.

Thank you for joining us for this conversation with Chelsea Ng from her early school days in Kuala Lumpur and [00:40:00] Beijing to her upcoming journey into medical school. Chelsea's story reminds us that resilience grows through change and that meaningful work in medicine begins with genuine connection. Her experiences from launching creative projects like Portraits of Humanity to volunteering in diverse communities show how following your curiosity, seeking mentorship and building community can shape both a career and a calling. You can find more about Portraits of humanity and see examples of their work@portraitsofhumanity.org.

 Here's a preview from next week's episode featuring Alexandra Braithwaite, a registered nurse now working in the International Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center.

Alex: What did I do? Like why did I do this? This is so horrible. You know? 'cause they're like yelling at you and everything and you know, and like, everything is like rush, rush, rush. Like, hurry up and wait. You know, like, run over here, run over here

It was just no mercy, just yelling at you for any little thing so, like during that, I'm like, why did I sign up for this? I, I don't, I don't remember [00:41:00] that guy in the commercial, like going through this, you know?

Given my Oma's situation, you know, and what she accomplished despite having a spinal cord injury and raising me. But I think the thing that impacted me the most was the work that she did. So she helped a lot with the ADA movement in the early nineties. She even had a job, it was called the Center of Independent Living, where she helped advocate for people with a range of disabilities, deaf, blind on the spectrum get jobs, you know, have their own little place. But yeah, she was my biggest impact growing up and was the one that lit up just my want to help people.

Duncan: Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with a friend. Word of mouth is essential for us to reach new listeners. Be sure to visit our website@ethnomed.org for additional resources. Also follow us on YouTube and Instagram at EthnoMed uw and on LinkedIn. Do you have comments or suggestions?[00:42:00] 

We would love to hear from you at EthnoMed uw@uw.edu. Thank you.