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Kickin' It with Dr. Osose
100 Plays1 month ago
On this episode of Kickin’ It in The Lounge, we welcome physician, digital storyteller and advocate of faith— Dr. Osose Oboh!
Join our hosts, Jared Jeffrey and Dr. Isabella Ntigbu, as they chat with Dr. Oboh regarding her journey in medicine, passion of photography and travel, and using her faith to navigate the shifting seasons of life. Her story is truly one of grit, resilience, and grace with a bit of humor sprinkled in!
Exclusive offer: Visit goclove.com/SNMA and use code CloveSNMA to get 20% off your first pair of shoes or any other item!
(If you experience any difficulties accessing your code, please email podcast@snma.org for assistance)
Connect with Dr. Osose Oboh on social media: Instagram and TikTok @ososee
Be sure to continue to stay tuned for more of our upcoming programming being released here on The Lounge!
To share your thoughts on our discussions or if you have any questions to ask our hosts, email podcast@snma.org for a chance to be featured on the show!
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed on our podcast do not reflect the official stance of the Student National Medical Association.
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Transcript
This or That: Personal Preferences
00:00:00
Speaker
So before we get into the main interview, let's start off with like a little this or that. So I'm just going to go through a series of questions and see, are you choosing this are you choosing that? that Okay. All right. So first, braids or silk press?
00:00:14
Speaker
Braids. Braids. Okay. You're mine. Okay. Okay, okay. Text back fast or four business days? Text back fast. What are we even talking about? but I love that.
00:00:27
Speaker
Spotify or Apple Music? Spotify. Okay. Who is Apple Music? Do you prefer to watch a nice sunrise or a nice sunset? Oh. Mm-hmm. Gotta. Gotta. I mean, but that's like a 50-50. You know what i'm saying? Like...
00:00:44
Speaker
I do both. Yeah. Like, as much as I can, as often as I can, I will be up. I don't care what country. I'm up. I'm... Sunrise. Sunrise. Okay. That was painful. Y'all just saw my fight. who no Well now I know you're a travel girlie So catch a flight or take a cruise Catch a flight Catch a flight yeah yeah and That would be easy for you yeah This one might be easy too We drinking coffee, we drinking tea
00:01:15
Speaker
Okay, that's not easy, actually, because I'm a tea girlie through and through. only recently became a coffee girlie. oh yeah Okay, okay. All right, so new chapters. But I think it's tea. Okay. With honey. Yeah, well hunt the honey is the important part. Yeah, yeah. That's important. Okay, and last one, crocs or sneakers? And let's think of like sneakers. Sneakers, huh?
00:01:35
Speaker
What's a crook? Lace me up. What? Lace me up, baby. Lace me up.
Introduction to the Podcast and Host
00:01:42
Speaker
ah Lace me up is a big move when it comes to choosing what's best for your feet when you're spending a long day on the wards, OR, ED, or even in the clinic.
00:01:52
Speaker
Thankfully, the lounge podcast has a perfect plug for you. And that's clove. Clover is an amazing healthcare brand that provides comfortable stylish shoes made for environments, both in and out of the healthcare care setting.
00:02:04
Speaker
The best part is that they are waterproof and easy to clean because I don't know about y'all, but there's nothing worse than ruining your favorite pair of shoes after a messy shift. Visit goclove.com slash snma and use code clove snma to get 20% off your first pair of shoes or any other item that you think will come in handy.
00:02:22
Speaker
That's goclove.com slash snma for 20% off. Now but let's tap back into the episode. Hey everybody, and welcome to Kicking It in the Lounge, the podcast where we keep a real, we keep it light, and we kick it with the folks behind the mission of the Student National Medical Association.
00:02:39
Speaker
I'm your host, Jared Jeffrey, and whether you're here to learn, laugh, or just vibe with us, you're in the right place. Each episode, I sit down with students, leaders, and changemakers from the SMA family to talk about what they do, why they do it, and who they are beyond the titles.
00:02:54
Speaker
So grab a seat, relax, and let's get into it.
Dr. Asase Ovo's Journey to Medicine
00:03:20
Speaker
Hello everyone, I'm student Dr. Isabella. I'm gonna be co-hosting this um interview with Jared. And so I'm really happy to introduce our guests for today, Dr. Asase Ovo.
00:03:33
Speaker
um We're really happy to have you here. I'm happy to be here. yeah Yay, yeah. So I guess let's kick it off, right? um So kind of just walk walk us through, tell us about your path to medicine, medical school, just kind of you know how you got there.
00:03:47
Speaker
Yeah, wow. um I feel like I've been talking about this a lot lately. Hey, well, I'm the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. So if you know, you know yeah that our options are few.
00:04:00
Speaker
You can either be a doctor, a lawyer, or engineer. Everybody normally says that in unison, but I'm alone on the mic. Okay. and So, I mean, I think that my parents first were like, okay, you guys are going doctors.
00:04:11
Speaker
And I think there's, I actually can see the positive in that because, you know, living in the United States where I think once you get out of your home, if your home is safe, oftentimes you hear the opposite for black folks that you can't be that, oh, you should do, oh, why don't you try sports? Why don't you do, be a teacher? yeah via d you' Do something with your hands, technician, you know, whatever, which is great, great.
00:04:34
Speaker
But why not? And so I think that I am really blessed that I got to hear that at home, that you can be these things, you can be these things, you can be these things. You know, you have the same brain. Does that person have two heads? Why can't you get an a Like, just to know that, you know, was all possible. I mean, you have one head like the person right next to you. I was like, yo, the two heads, like, stop.
00:04:55
Speaker
Obviously, I know that they don't have two heads. I didn't get the grade, my man. Right. Right. But I think that it now I can see the positive in that. Like i used to be like, dang, like, well, I'm also a photographer. So what about that? yeah You know?
00:05:10
Speaker
Anyways, long story short, it started at home. um Went to school, noticed that I really did love the sciences. I loved biology. I loved anatomy. we hadt we I was blessed to go to a school that had like an anatomy lab where we got to dissect.
00:05:23
Speaker
ah Sorry for those that are animal awareness. I don't know what it's called. We dissected pigs, ah frogs, and rest in peace. Yeah. And it allowed us to see the hearts and the lungs and like, you know, like really get exposed to the to the body.
00:05:37
Speaker
um And so I ended up going to college knowing that I wanted to do medicine. I didn't know what that would look like. I didn't know the steps. I just knew i guess I got to study science. You don't have to study science.
00:05:48
Speaker
That's a big one. I was a biology major. I absolutely hated it. i absolutely hated it. And I came from loving school to all of a sudden school is my enemy. My tormentor um was not doing well. And I think it's really hard to do well when you don't like the thing. Right.
00:06:03
Speaker
I think the prereqs, you understand you got to get through those. But when your entire four years of college, like all your classes just kind of suck. It's not fun. um And i I really went through kind of an identity crisis. Like, am I like, am I because I didn't pass organic chemistry because I didn't pass evolutionary biology.
00:06:20
Speaker
Like, I need to know that. I can't be a doctor. nick Now I'm not good enough. So like left I left undergrad with this like thought that, man, i'm might i I'm not good enough for it. And God brought my sister back in my life in a meaning and a more meaningful way. We weren't homies back then. We are click-tight now.
00:06:37
Speaker
um Who helped
Challenges and Support in Education
00:06:39
Speaker
to encourage me, as even as she was trying to encourage herself, like, no, we're about to do this. If you got into med school tomorrow, would you go? My answer was yes, and she's like, all right then, God's got it, and we we just gotta to keep pushing.
00:06:49
Speaker
So from graduating in 2013, I went to UCLA, graduated in 2013, ended up, um by God's grace, getting into a master's program at USC to do my master's in public health. Mind you, I graduated UCLA with a 2.42 science GPA. My cumulative was 2.77.
00:07:06
Speaker
Those numbers did not depict the depression, did not depict the hardship in my family, did not depict so much, it's just a number. um and had nothing to do with what I was actually capable of. And so by God's grace, yeah, I got into my master's program. I was really excited. I really wanted to study public health and just know, like, do I got to do medicine, God, or is this okay? Is this enough?
00:07:24
Speaker
Is this enough, my guy? you know um And meanwhile, i was I had started a freelance photography business that had really taken off um in college and got to do a lot of that. um and ends up getting hired by USC's law school to continue to do that work and it was great. It was paid and in school and I was like, yeah, grad school, I'm gonna be master's mommy by 23. Even though all my other plans didn't make sense.
00:07:47
Speaker
um And I feel like throughout those years, God started connecting me to black doctors. There was the Association of Black Women Physicians um in l LA. Most of them were part of NMA. All of them had have been a part of SNMA and were telling me all about SNMA. And I'm thinking, oh, I can only join when I'm in med school. But whatever, when I go, I'm about to be in that thing.
00:08:04
Speaker
This is the family I've been waiting for. um And they really guided me throughout those four years um to not just... you know of course, work on getting the GPA up, work on you know but but bolstering the CV, but also to remind me to like live life now. this is still life now. This is not a gap year. There's no gap in your life because you're not in med school right after college. Please, don't stress me.
00:08:27
Speaker
um And it really changed the way that I started thinking about my life in general. And so after four beautiful years of going to 17 countries, yes, I went on a cruise, but I do prefer flights. My parents loved cruises, so they were cruising. oh okay But after getting to travel, after getting to shoot weddings and you know maternity shoots and all these random and random things I never thought I would ever do, i got into med school and I got in with my sister.
00:08:52
Speaker
And if I had gotten in on my own plan, I would have never gotten to go with her and to have her support through one of the hardest years of my life. um Hardest years of my life. That made sense, right? Yes, okay.
00:09:03
Speaker
I thought I said some plural and it was single. Anyways, and you know made it to the point of knowing that internal medicine was where I needed to go next because GI was the future and now I'm a GI fellow UCSF and it's crazy.
00:09:18
Speaker
That is really beautiful. I love that.
Involvement with SNMA and Leadership Roles
00:09:22
Speaker
Really love it. Really love it. um yeah So you mentioned that you got connected to the SNMA in that point. Tell us about what the SNMA did for you and as well as what it meant for your journey throughout medical school. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ha Changed my life.
00:09:35
Speaker
Flights on flights on flights. um I think, number one, I was really sad that you know during those four years, I thought that I could only go... to SNA may or be a part of SNA may as a med student. And so I want people who are listening. If you are pre-med, if you are like in your gap year, gap year, I know I don't say that term, but everybody's saying that term right now. So it's getting on me.
00:09:56
Speaker
um But if you are, um you know, still working on your journey to get to medical school, that you can be in SNMA now, you can be in leadership now, you can serve now, you have gifts and talents that you can use right where you are to contribute to the work that SNMA is doing, there's space for you, get engaged, get involved.
00:10:13
Speaker
Okay. I became an SNN member the moment my refund check dropped in August 2017. Okay, that's the first purchase of my refund check. We praise God. And come to find out, my chapter was hosting Armec. Wow. Yeah, it's crazy.
00:10:29
Speaker
Crazy. that was So that was my first actual conference, SMA conference, where I got to be in the space and be like, oh, started getting a little angry, like, dang, seriously, I've really been missing out this whole time. Y'all lit.
00:10:43
Speaker
But before that, um I think people knew, oh, there's two sisters that are coming in. There's sisters are coming in. And so we moved earlier, like maybe a couple weeks earlier, um just because we were moving from Cali to Michigan. it was a big deal.
00:10:56
Speaker
um and they were holding like planning meetings. And so we literally got pulled in from jump before we were even, before I even had my ID card. um And that's how I ended up finding out that there was a RFLP program, which I think it's called something else now, but it was a form of the national um future leadership project program um that would help people learn about the regional level, about how to run that how to run um you know the work that we do, how to become a leader within the SMA. So I immediately applied, i think it was due that same week.
00:11:25
Speaker
got a spot and that spot gave you this like quote unquote associate board member so you could attend these board meetings and really get a picture of the work that we do. And you know, medicine, they love titles, they love hierarchy. They were like, oh, board member?
00:11:42
Speaker
Okay, we we got you. Do you have any conferences you have to go to? Okay, can you tell us more about it? Can we put on a website? can we When I say flute out, when I say bank, bank sugar mama.
00:11:56
Speaker
yeah and this The way that school was just anyway. And I was nervous at first to ask. And I'm like, oh, just just if you want to send us a list of where you have to go this year, just let us know.
00:12:11
Speaker
And then we'll just book it for you. Huh? Secretary. Wow. Crazy. Wow. Yeah. And imagine, i was mind you, I was fighting tooth and nail about going to msu So I was like, man, i don't want to be nobody's baby sister, you know?
00:12:25
Speaker
And I was hoping I was going to go to Howard. I was going to find my man, you know? I thought my life was supposed to end up. Let me preface this. Hey, going to Howard is almost a guarantee you will not find your man, you know? You know, I know that now.
00:12:36
Speaker
I'm sorry. No shame. No shame. I love my alma mater, but I just got to make that clear. I'm sorry. You know, I know some people that did. Yeah. But I mean, I mean, I think about it as a package deal, like Howard and TC, you know, but understood, got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But at the time, you know, hindsight, said 2020, I had no clue. And so I was really fighting MSU until like,
00:12:57
Speaker
it was time to have our going away party so i had to tell him where i was going you know and god hadn't opened the door fully they were like i can't tell that story actually on the mic because you know anyways all that to say god did he knew why he was sending me there there he knew how he was going to provide so because i got to go because i got to be an rflp i got to go to every conference i got to go to all the nlis in new orleans wherever atlanta didn't matter where it was i got to go i got to get exposed And I got to see how I could contribute to what SMA was doing.
00:13:29
Speaker
And because I already had this background of photography and like somewhat some marketing and how to be face for like front facing and how to increase folks' awareness of us, I started bringing my camera everywhere, i started photographing people.
00:13:41
Speaker
So the pictures on our social media went up. Okay. And the followers went up with it. And then I got the position as external affairs co-chair. so that's how I started on the national board from there, second year. or for that by the end of my By the end of my first year, I was external affairs co-chair.
00:13:56
Speaker
And then second year decided to apply to become national president. That's amazing. There's something I actually wanted to ask you ah really quickly. It's kind of more of a side question. But I remember, think this was actually during your presidency tenure when ah it was like you, it was something that you posted. It was like you, I think, with a bunch of people in their white coats in the back and everybody was kind of like all together. I really wanted to ask you, when you made that video, how did you feel? Because I feel like that was like such a powerful video. I've heard yeah people mention it even just in passing, like people who are in medicine with me.
00:14:24
Speaker
and just talking about how that really made them feel like so you know seen and empowered yeah wonder how did you feel like in that yeah yeah yeah you know that video was actually my second year of residency um which was really hard
Facing Challenges in SNMA Leadership
00:14:38
Speaker
all the years were hard yeah but uh my so my presidency for those that don't know was 2020 2021 so it was virtual right correct so if you know me i'm an in-person girl yeah Okay? I'm a vibe. Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
I'm a good time. i have a video, actually, that some people send me from year to year of me in a circle when AMEC was in San Francisco in 2018 getting down. Okay.
00:15:06
Speaker
I wore the same pants yesterday, actually. Oh, wow. You know, like I was so excited to create a space where like everyone was seen and everyone felt good and welcome.
00:15:18
Speaker
And, you know, a really robust programming where everybody, any question you had, you about to get it here. um And so I was really sad about that. And so every AMEX since... um the virtual one has been i'm crying all the time i'm seeing people that i met through social media i'm seeing people that i met when i was in my pre-med journey i'm seeing people that i met through snma seeing them go you know and so and i get to hear that the things that i started sharing on social media which was all for me and my healing and getting me out of depression
00:15:50
Speaker
After God was like, open your mouth, girl. You are accepting a lot of things to be facts for you that are not. I am with you. i am moving for you. um And so I started sharing and being more vulnerable and built that muscle of being vulnerable and it being okay through social media. So now people, I'm coming to AMEC and people are telling me how that one thing that I was dying helped them get out of X. Wow. And so AMEC becomes, S&MA and AMEC becomes a space of, I get reminded And so that day, I remember i had been i been going through it.
00:16:21
Speaker
i was like, am I really about to apply to GI? It was due in like three months. I was like, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you have to tell me. you got it I don't want you to have to scream all the time, but this time, it's another three years.
00:16:33
Speaker
It's another three years. And I can't even see how i'm about to make it through the next year. And so to come out of whatever session I was in, I forgot the white coat picture was happening and see every, the flood. It was a sea of God, Jocelyn Ayers. Yup, yup. And to see everybody in their white coat that day. That was that was the um the Connecticut one. That was Connecticut. That Connecticut, yup. I was like, oh, we are here.
00:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, you gotta go. Don't let me not say that. You got bleep? yeah We got bleep. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. Yeah.
00:17:05
Speaker
Taking up space. Okay? was like, nah, nah, nah, people gotta see this right now. I was like, I was little trigger happy because I know they were taking the picture up top and just said, ah.
00:17:16
Speaker
yeah know And then we start screaming and I'm screaming and I'm watching. Yeah, so that video. I think that was one of the biggest white coat photos like at the time. That was the biggest one to date. So I was right behind you when you took the picture. i watched you grow up and I saw it.
00:17:31
Speaker
you looked like your mouth was watering. You was like, oh my gosh. And you know, I'm personally getting re-inspired, right? like i So I'm still thinking like, oh yeah, yeah, I gotta make it here. gotta to make it here, Some of my very recent friends were just making it in. They were in M1s in the picture and stuff like that I'm like, yeah, yeah, yes so yeah, soon come. Soon come. Yeah, soon come. And when it comes, the spaces you about to occupy, the things you're already doing now, yeah this podcast, yeah y'all gonna know Jared, okay?
Social Media: A Tool for Healing and Storytelling
00:17:58
Speaker
From Brooklyn. Ha ha ha.
00:18:00
Speaker
Don't forget the Brooklyn. don't Don't forget the Brooklyn. Please. Yes, yes. ah So back on track, though, back on track. Yeah, sorry about that, y'all. No, you good, you good. um So you answered this a little bit, but I want to know. Yeah. when did you start to um fully incorporate social media and medicine?
00:18:21
Speaker
ah You know the term medfluencer, and you know, looking back now, it's easy say, oh yeah, i'm a medfluencer. When did the idea of putting your journey through medicine on social media become a thing yeah so it was never a thing for me i'm actually i still cringe when when people say you're my one of my favorite influencers because i'm just like i and that was never the intention because if you if you like for my story i'm a i'm a photographer first and i'm sensitive about my I care about the art, I care about storytelling, and I see now that content creating and stuff could be an art, but I think in the beginning, it was really about my healing.
00:19:02
Speaker
2015, I was coming out of like depression, like Siggy Caps, minus the suicidal idea i idea ah i idea ideation by God's grace. um And I had started to be honest and open about the things that I was dealing with um to some extent with my family.
00:19:22
Speaker
And I remember one day that I think I had opened my phone and i looked at a picture and I just felt God say, speak.
00:19:31
Speaker
That's it. it was and And I think that unraveling of that was like, like I was kind of alluding to before, that there were things in my life that this was 2015. So I was two years out of college.
00:19:44
Speaker
um My parents had actually made me apply to med school the first time I didn't get in. Of course, 2.42, let's be real. um What? You know? And Kat was trash. ah And...
00:19:56
Speaker
I feel like that I was having difficulty accepting what my story now was coming from the 4.3 student, the athlete, the leader, the all-star, um that now all of a sudden my grades didn't reflect who I knew i was And along with that, there were other like personal fears, fears about getting sick. There were sicknesses that were running in my family that were coming to light with genetic stuff that I was just like, God.
00:20:21
Speaker
And I was getting hit by cars. I had two car accidents within the six month span. And the second one was really bad. And so by this point, I have like some chronic pain. I'm dealing with a lot of stuff. And I am believing that my life is not gonna go anywhere good.
00:20:34
Speaker
And so when I felt like God told me to speak because I was harboring those things in me and that was hurting me and it was killing me. um And so the start wasn't, it had nothing to do. getting little emotional. It's fine.
00:20:47
Speaker
I had nothing to do with anyone. But obeying what he said and realizing that what he was telling me to do was was for my healing so that I could be free to just be the daughter that he made that was perfect, that was predestined for good works, that he had purpose on my in my life, that it didn't matter what what what s twists and turns were happening in my story. My story is a page turner.
00:21:11
Speaker
And so I feel like I started sharing on social media because before you could scroll 20 times, it wasn't gonna find me. You're going to find my work though. Hire me. Thank you. But I feel like i i as as as I started to obey, i think I would see a picture on my phone and the words would just come.
00:21:27
Speaker
And so I would be typing essays on Instagram. as essays on instagram I made so many friends from Instagram back when it wasn't, sell me this, sell me this, tell me tea. um Y'all remember tell me tea, slim tea.
00:21:39
Speaker
yeah If y'all just want to relax it, it just just say, get some relax. um But yeah, like I made so many friends at the time. And I think that I started to accept the things that I loved. My parents hated photography. They hated anything creative and I kept doing it.
00:21:54
Speaker
And it funded my life. It funded my next application. It funded step one. you know It funded the move. um I feel like it made me accept ah that my story wasn't going to be perfect.
00:22:06
Speaker
And that when I put in those grades in AMCAS, it's not a reflection of me because that's how my application would be late. So i when I feel like I stepped into my content creator bag, I guess, I had already been doing it. I had already been telling stories and stuff and it was all for me and other people got to benefit from seeing and hearing the testimony.
00:22:27
Speaker
But I think it would be May 2020 when classes were all virtual and I was watching bloggers make money on social media with photos I took from years ago. And I said, God, I want money. yeah So can you let me know what's up? What I gotta do, send me somebody to tell me the fastest, the easiest, the easiest, you know, how to be efficient. Cause I can take the photo. I can do, the content will be clear and crisp, cool.
00:22:57
Speaker
How do I do this efficiently? Cause I'm still, i'm I was president by that point. I'm so i'm about to apply to residency. So I know Lord, well I know the ask I'm asking. So let me know. And he did.
00:23:08
Speaker
I talk got on the phone with somebody the next day. I got my first $200 job with Dark and Lovely then by the end of by mid-June. And then realized that that was crazy. You owe me $2K. And did.
00:23:19
Speaker
Okay. Negotiate. So things change really quick. yeah Quick. And um I think it's been a roller coaster since because I think social media is still, it can be a toxic space for the mind, um especially if you're not good at comparing. if you're If you struggle with comparison like I do, you can compare yourself in different seasons to people even though you have every reason to be grateful.
00:23:44
Speaker
um So I've gone back and forth with it. I still struggle with it But I see that the testimony has had impact. And for that, I am grateful. I think that's really beautiful how you kind of like it was more about, like you said, opening up yourself more for your own kind of benefit rather than the benefit of the masses. you know what I'm trying to say? i think it's all about doing like what you know is feeding and healing yourself first before thinking about how can you like.
00:24:09
Speaker
serve of others because you can't like you said you can't serve others you can't be there for others if you're not even there for yourself you're pouring your own cup and that kind of thing so you talked about photography being one way that you do that kind of like filling your cup i've i see through you know what you post how travel also does that and so i'm interested in knowing like how many countries have you been to like where did this love of travel come from like how how has it kind of played into your role of being a provider as well that that love of yeah oh i had a patient um ah couple days ago
00:24:39
Speaker
um that needed an endoscopy because i do scopes now be looking at people's stomachs and stuff be stop and bleeds occur um and doctors stuff period um
00:24:57
Speaker
Sometimes you just gotta scream. We are out We made it.
Travel and Cultural Enrichment
00:25:04
Speaker
I remember fights. remember the nights. We made it. We're in it. yeah Find joy here. Quit complaining. yeah And so the question was about travel.
00:25:12
Speaker
I had a patient and she was Spanish speaking and I'm like, you know, my Spanish used to be lit. It's not anymore. I don't remember crap. I'd be like, hola, como estas? They'd be like, oh, I love your accent. And I know that's what they're saying because I hear it so much, but I can't tell you how to say that.
00:25:26
Speaker
um And I was like, oh, where are you from? She told me Peru. I said, oh, Peru. Oh my gosh. I pulled a picture with me and my parents. I'm watching picture. She said, I can't leave. Oh my God. We're besties ever since. oh So when she came down for the procedure, she might've been nervous and she saw me she, oh, the smile was crazy.
00:25:42
Speaker
And so travel has allowed me to connect with people No matter what hospital I'm at, no matter where, out literally no matter where I am at, especially if you're in California, and New York, those kinds of places that are super diverse, you're gonna find people from all over. And there's so many of them, at least 57 of them that I could say I've been to their home.
00:25:59
Speaker
And especially in this climate, I think that it gives people a lot of peace to know you've been there, you enjoy it, you find things beautiful, you appreciate it. They're not, they are accepted with you. um yeah i think that travel stuff might have started i mean honestly as nigerians you we go home you know so i think that i i would like to think that that's where it started from that we used to have to go home to nigeria even if i complain sometimes about going back to the village because they know the village they can only see me for three days i don't care what's going on They see me for three days. we'd be in the village forever. That's why it's a break free because if I'm with my dad, oh, I'm not getting out of the village. yeah Are you Evo?
00:26:36
Speaker
I'm Evo. Yeah. I'm not getting out of the village. The way they love that east. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all be going home. Respect. Respect. Wait, what are... I'm Ishan. Stop lying. Yes, from the United States. Stop lying. I'm a banana. I'm Ishan. You know why? I didn't even make that connection. Because your last name, that this sounds kind of evil to me. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
00:26:58
Speaker
I know we're kind of close, but we're not, we not I'm not the boo. I'm the shaman. You know we're proud of. Everybody's proud of their child. That is so funny. I love that. So that's like, is that like close to like cross river type area? What is that? Delta. Delta. Okay. Okay.
00:27:11
Speaker
Got you. Got you. Got you. yeah But I would say, yeah, my parents taking us home, like they were the king, queen finessers of every point. Cause they have four kids and they would, and I remember my, one of the, one of the my favorite pictures, I was in Paris at like two years old. It was me and my sister and my brother, and there's like 89, 90, 92.
00:27:31
Speaker
You had all three of us. We was dressed, hair done. This is my pops, and he got flicks. That's crazy. My mom wasn't there. He took ah he took us out of the airport on a layover Paris. Me, I was in Paris. I was a toddler. So you really need to know who I am, okay?
00:27:48
Speaker
So I think that it started there. because then i start i didn't even realize, like, yo, pops used to use layovers as trips. That's crazy. I
Balancing Life: Rest and Self-Care
00:27:54
Speaker
do that Yeah.
00:27:57
Speaker
you do it and then i don't i remember i saw those pictures again because i was like oh yeah guys gotta use your layovers you gotta you gotta yeah i'm the queen layovers oh not an og dang that's crazy he went up me years ago with three kids ah so i feel like it started it started there and now we're here i love that that's great Okay, okay. So now we go fast forward, right?
00:28:21
Speaker
You done made out of medical school, big resident, popping, doing the doctor thing. Yes. Then you get burnt out. Then you tired. your cup empty. Mm-hmm.
00:28:33
Speaker
What do you do to refill your cup? What do you do to mitigate your burnout? How do you make sure that you can keep showing up, not only for your patients, but for yourself as well and your loved ones? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:28:44
Speaker
That's good. i think um one of the things I learned in med school ah that I started learning, I came into med school with the idea that I don't want to be number one. And I know that's not the, that is like anti-medicine.
00:28:58
Speaker
Oh, you took the throw right out of my head. Yeah, it's anti-medicine. Like what? You don't want to be at the top? No, I'm not. I'm a gunner in life. And that means I'm minister of enjoyment. So no, I don't wanna be number one.
00:29:10
Speaker
I wanna be good. Everybody that graduates med school is a doctor. And then you go to residency, actually become one. So it's like it's like, yeah. So I came in thinking like, Lord, I wanna learn how to be balanced because I wanna still be present as much as possible in the lives of my family.
00:29:27
Speaker
And still do the things I love that I feel like you have gifted me with. So because I started practicing there, I think by the time I got to residency, I knew i wasn't missing a vacation.
00:29:38
Speaker
So you're not about to catch me outside if you don't invite me to happy hour. If it ain't on discount, my money has been spoken for. I'm going out of the country. Okay? Yes.
00:29:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah'all Real similar. yeah Okay. Sorry. You know it. Because you know I travel. One thing about me, I'm catching a flight. and what i don't care. and and And I was like, oh, I sleep on flights. My carry-on was at the door. Yep. my if i was like I might have left my car in the parking lot at work because my carry-on was there and someone was going to give me a ride to the airport. Yep.
00:30:09
Speaker
But even then, over time, I realized, okay, the the flights... The massages, these are things that i thought I thought, okay, these are things that keep me well. Massages, working out. I know that I love being outdoors. So going for a run in the park, going by a body of water, all of those things. I'm like, okay, all of those things give me make me feel renewed. So I can easily put those in my day-to-day, but my day is still my day.
00:30:31
Speaker
And then I might work through the weekend. And then all of a sudden it's a 14-day stretch with no days off. So what does rest look like? Yeah. um And I feel like I was not the best at resting. I start i got better at saying no so i wasn't doing things that weren't also filling my cup. I wasn't doing any needless.
00:30:49
Speaker
By residency, you can ask me do nothing. ain't doing no committees. I'm not doing nothing. When I was in med school, dropped every SIG, specialty interest group, don't need you. The only thing I need is SNMA because we're making an impact and I can speak on that in my interviews. I dropped everything. in One day, I emailed every single committee I was on and said no.
00:31:07
Speaker
Sorry, I can no longer continue. One sentence. That was it. Egged on by my sister who did the same five minutes before. It runs to the family. I'm like, I'm so babysit. Let me not act like, no, because we're sitting there like, man, everybody's studying. And every time I'm walking past these study rooms to go to a meeting, they're not in these meetings.
00:31:24
Speaker
But it's all the people of color because that's what we just care about fighting for everybody. But no, today, y'all need to handle it. that's so I've done my fight. My fight's going be in the SMA. I'm going to study though. Yeah. So I feel like because I started practicing that there, i had a sister who was also trying to figure it out that we could see when each other was slipping and be like, you don't have to do that.
00:31:42
Speaker
But by the time I got to residency, this is a different type of hours that you're working and you're still trying to mentor. You're still trying to do those things. So now how do I actually look at my schedule and be a schedule mommy?
00:31:53
Speaker
So I think by the time I got out of residency, I had started to become a schedule mommy. Like if it's not on my calendar, sister, you're not doing it because you need to actually schedule rest. yeah And so that is something that I think I'm still working on Again, traveling always makes me feel good because I i typically also rest when I travel. I don't over plan. I'm not the you must do every photographic type thing.
00:32:12
Speaker
I'm not. I love massages. I love spas. I love to eat. So I know those things are easy for me to input into my daily life or into my life within a couple months time because i don't travel every week. but that rest part is the key yeah that we don't have to be too busy. We don't have to say yes to everything.
00:32:29
Speaker
How do you rest and just be still? I'm still learning. That is so beautiful. And I think it's really nice that we're talking about the different forms of how do you not only mitigate, but even prevent the burnout. And then, you know, there's parts of burnout too that like you can't even control, like, and feel free to not answer this, but I feel like I want to ask this because it's something that I don't see addressed in a lot of forums like this a lot of conversations like this but so many people struggle with it is grief so I want to know like how did you get through your grief like yeah yeah oh yeah um
00:33:03
Speaker
Hmm. Grief is heavy. And I think there's, there's different kinds, um, too. I've lost grandparents, I've lost cousins, you know, I'm an uncle now, a mentor. yeah Um, and I think each one was different yeah and you can't predict how and when it hits.
00:33:23
Speaker
Um, and so I think that what I've been trying to do is when the emotions come, I allow it. Yeah. um And I think residency was a pressure cooker of learning that. My my cousin passed away ah November of intern year.
00:33:38
Speaker
hear And I had lost my first patient I started i started a residency losing a first patient, but she had been so sick. She was young, 18-year-old black girl. um Super, super sad in the first three weeks of residency.
00:33:53
Speaker
And I didn't know. i was i was initially very avoidant yeah because I knew it was coming. When I met her, I heard her story around. I was like, oh, uh-uh.
00:34:03
Speaker
I would avoid going into her room. until like I think I ended up talking my sister about it before going back in a 28 hour shift so they're also very long and you have to make it through and like if I spend too much time with the one black patient on this floor I will I'm not gonna do well and I'm okay to admit that but it was talking to my sister to be like girl why do you think God brought you there why you think she brought you there you don't know so be there
00:34:29
Speaker
so be there um And so I think that that first experience, um forcing myself to be, to be with the emotions, to be with the the feelings and the unexpected nature of it all changed progressively, like how I've looked at it. So now I cry on rounds.
00:34:48
Speaker
If I just lost a patient, you expect me to come and now talk about the next one. You are out of your freaking mind. And I'm going to, the pause is now forced. Yeah. Because my ah I'm not, i'm I try not to all choke. I try not to choke it back too much. I'm choking it back for this because I want to talk.
00:35:02
Speaker
Yeah. I'm here to yap. Yeah, yeah. But. Yeah. I don't choke it or I don't, show i don't i don't, I cry in front of people now. And sometimes it doesn't feel good because it's like, I don't want everybody see me cry, but it doesn't feel good either to hold it in. I feel like it makes me sick.
00:35:18
Speaker
So I cry on rounds. i When I lost my my uncle passed January 15th, found out that my mentor passed January 4th, actually, but I found it on Facebook on January 22nd or the week of my birthday.
00:35:30
Speaker
And his funeral was that Tuesday in l LA and I couldn't go. Wow. um And I don't think I've i've had such despair in a long time. um Because I've known him since like I was 17.
00:35:44
Speaker
um And yeah, at UCLA and feel like he changed the whole experience for me. He changed my relationship with my parents. Like he was very impactful.
00:35:56
Speaker
That's my first therapist high key and that was his job, but I didn't even put it two and two together. He's like, oh, let's go grab a bite. Yeah, you trying to therapize me or whatever. You know, I didn't even know it, but God bless, you know, thank God for it.
00:36:08
Speaker
um And had to let it out in person. yeah Because I think ah at each stage, if especially if you continue to climb, you you start you still feel like you need to be present. You need to be there. You need to do the job. yeah And I felt like I still need to be there and be present.
00:36:25
Speaker
And this time i had I had to have somebody tell me, go home. and I'm grateful and take as much time as you need um because that's not something that we see often and not something that we just allow ourselves to do, period.
Faith and Mentorship in Dr. Ovo's Journey
00:36:40
Speaker
And I think once I heard that, probably every by Thursday of every week, I was out. I was home for like four weeks, every Thursday. It looked like clockwork. i would hit the I would hit it and I'm, oh, can't get out of bed.
00:36:52
Speaker
It's quick email. No questions asked. So ah grief is hard. and It comes in waves. you can't You don't know when i expect it or how to control it, but you got to ride the wave and release.
00:37:08
Speaker
Definitely powerful. um Tell me about the role God plays in your life and the role that he plays in your journey through medicine. Yeah, that's the source. He's the one that called it. He said, when I formed you, making you into a doctor, a healer, I'm go give you eyes that when you see the sky, you like, whoa.
00:37:30
Speaker
He built this. He purposed me for this. So I think God is the source of how of of the energy in my body, the craziness that comes out.
00:37:41
Speaker
That's the source. He put this, yeah. I didn't create it. I didn't create it at all. i got
00:37:50
Speaker
I can't take credit for this voice. I can't take credit for the booty. I can't take credit for none of it. You know what i'm saying? So God is the creator, the ultimate creative, and he downloads things to my brain.
00:38:01
Speaker
The more time I spend with him, the more the juices be flowing. You know what I mean? Like some of the best like photo stories, my my my clothing tape has failed me. So I keep adjusting just for you people that get to see me. Y'all blessed, but I'm adjusting.
00:38:16
Speaker
um but he is literally the creator. And so for me, i think god is God has to stay above. He has to he has to be this God that I'm just in awe of that when I think about the things that he did, the things that he is doing, how he cares about like the interconnectedness of it all. Like I feel like sometimes we watch these complex movies and see how they bring it together. I'm like, whoa, it's like,
00:38:43
Speaker
God is on a million. You can't even fathom all the connectedness. Like the reason I went to med school when I did that now y'all know me. ah that my My cousin also went to med school and then went into SMA and had these ideas and whatever. you know what I mean? Like, I like all of that the timing of everything he is orchestrating it. So when I think that I'm control, I have to remember that I am not.
00:39:05
Speaker
And the things that he chooses to allow, they will not break me or hurt me. Like, this is the God that loves me. The God that is consistent. So when I think about him, the Lord in medicine, have to remind myself that the where I am in that very second, there's a purpose for it.
00:39:22
Speaker
Like I mentioned with that with that young girl that passed and my sister had to remind me of that. God doesn't god doesn't play with time. i might be stressed about time, but timing his timing is perfect.
00:39:33
Speaker
And so, I mean, God is everything. hope that answered the question. No, definitely. Definitely. So um bringing it to the present now, we've heard a lot about your story.
00:39:44
Speaker
It's AMEC 2025. Where are you in your journey? And what do you see next? Because I'm scared of what I say got in the future. Yeah, be scared.
00:39:55
Speaker
Let me say something. I feel like I haven't stepped into the full calling that God has on my life. I think that I'm still moving in fear of man, in fear of rejection.
00:40:06
Speaker
And it's not just fear of God, because that's all that should exist. um That I have this awe and reverence of God that the things that he calls me to do, I just do. And I just do because he said to do it. So that means I have everything I need to do it.
00:40:20
Speaker
And so i am I am hoping and praying that I continue to build this faith muscle to obey because then, yes so The earthquakes you be hearing about in California be nothing.
00:40:33
Speaker
Nothing compared to the web is shaking tensile. Sorry. But right now, but for now, but for now, as I walk through the valley of the child of death, and free no evil, I am a GI fellow at UCSF. I finished internal medicine residency at Hopkins by the grace of God.
00:40:53
Speaker
um And I am building a nonprofit called Be The Plug. um ah Be the plug, that's the vibe. That means that whoever you are, wherever you are, you can be the plug for somebody.
00:41:08
Speaker
You can be the the the lifeboat that somebody needed, no matter where you are. um And so the point of of my organization is really just to bring people together. Even if we just bring them together they coming to come to AMEC because this is this is where I try to point people to.
00:41:23
Speaker
I'm not trying to have a a formulated mentorship. i don't i don't I don't want that stress. That is stressful to me. um I want to bring people together to meet organically because I think that when people feel safe and that they are ah enough, that they will support each other naturally because I think that's how God made it. Like the body of Christ, like one part can't be whole without the other.
00:41:42
Speaker
um And so that's why I created Be The Plug. So I'm trying, I'm working on building that. And I'm still working on being a content creator influencer or whatever we want to call it today. um But just being a light in the world.
00:41:55
Speaker
And whether that's in beauty, if I try to do my makeups on TV, um whether that's in fashion, because I'm looking dandy right now, hashtag Met Gala, can I come? um It doesn't matter what it is that I am a light and that I inspire people to go after whatever God has purposed them to do.
00:42:15
Speaker
So that's current. Nice. Nice. um I'm going wrap it up with one last question since you you just threw it in my head the way that you answered that last one. You said you don't want to be a mentor.
00:42:28
Speaker
That's not what said. said don't want to build a formal mentorship program. There we go. Because don't want to be chasing people to show up, to call somebody back. Got you. Got you. All right. So that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I'm a mentor. Because I was going to pull your card. Because I was going to I say I done seen about 25 some 11 people um come stop you, come hug you and say how much you mean to them and how much you un um impacted them, their journey and whatever else.
00:42:56
Speaker
So my question was going to be if if all of that is just false, what does mentorship But now like now it could be. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. I mentor. So now it is. What role does mentorship play in within your life at your current stage? Yeah. And why do you think mentorship is important? Yeah. um i think of i think of mentorship of ah of in a couple different ways, but I think breaking down what I actually, why I actually engage is like the beauty of where I am is because people have chosen to walk with me through this life.
00:43:30
Speaker
And so, yeah, it could be formal where I'm where i'm just asking somebody people for career advice, but nah, the relationships that I've been able to build, especially within the SMA, have become people who are walking with me through life.
00:43:43
Speaker
So I feel like I get stopped and stuff because remember back in the day, my grandma, my bestie, rest in peace, she loved her some Oprah. Anytime I come home from school, sisters watching Oprah or or or Days of Our Lives, but mainly Oprah.
00:43:58
Speaker
And she used to, I think she wrote a letter to Oprah and Oprah never answered. And I said, if anybody writes, if I'm ever famous, grandma, if I'm ever famous, I'm responding to everybody, everybody. You know, and she's like, okay, good.
00:44:10
Speaker
So now I'd be on the toilet like messaging people back on Instagram. It don't matter where I'm at, I'm going to check my messages. So just know if I didn't respond, it's because it's either that you was trying to hit on me. Don't do that.
00:44:21
Speaker
if you're going to do it, just ask me on a date. I am so single. That's okay. I can get married in six months. That's also okay. But just you know come straight, come correct. Anyways, it has all of the qualities you're looking for. And all qualities I'm looking for. That is giving six months, even three months. we can You know what I'm trying to say? Honestly, once God does it, it's done. It's done. It's But don't come weird. People be weird.
00:44:43
Speaker
So it's like it's like, I'm like, if you come in and you're asking a question like, hey, this is who is what I'm going through. I answer immediately. Immediately. It might be a voice note. It depends on how the spirit moves. And so i i I know that there are some people that think I'm their mentor that I might not even know that I am.
00:45:00
Speaker
Because if they reach out, I'm gonna answer. um And so I think that mentorship literally is because of those people, how they have how they have inserted themselves into my life, how they responded when I was crying out for help, their openness, their willingness to just share their testimony. It's all about testimony. The things we went through are for a reason. The tears you have cried are for a reason.
00:45:20
Speaker
And so there have been people that have shared that with me that allows me to be able to share that with other people. And so I think mentorship, formal, non-formal is great. I'm a very informal person.
00:45:33
Speaker
I can be formal until I'm not. But it's all about the personalness, right? yeah That's what people want to see. They don't want to see the sterleness. No, it's not sterile here. Because I'm like, we didn't get here on our own. yeah let's not It's not fun about it.
00:45:47
Speaker
It wasn't the GPA. It wasn't the SEB score. It wasn't the MCAT. Rest in peace. You know? never again it's a big rest in peace i'm like it's not about it was not about perfection it was about it was not about that it was about willingness to be to be to do it willingness to show up scared that's it that's so powerful honestly if there's just one thing you want to leave our listeners with what is it that you really want the people who are potentially going to hear what your story and what where you've come from where you're going what do you want them to really take out of this yeah
00:46:19
Speaker
Be the plug. Be the plug. don't hold Don't close the door. Don't pull the seat out from somebody. Be the plug. Be kind. There's space for all of us.
00:46:31
Speaker
Whatever tea you know you can share. Don't be a gay kippah. Those people are crazy. Don't be a gay kippah. Tell the truth. Shame the devil. Okay? Be the plug is my motto in life.
00:46:44
Speaker
It's my motto in life because I've also experienced the people who I'm asking them straight up, oh, how did you do that? And they lead me to some whack site that I know you was never on. Like, stop. Why?
00:46:57
Speaker
God gave each of us a gift that we can all use. There's no competition. Nobody is alike. he's He doesn't do replicas. So be the plug.
00:47:11
Speaker
Mic drop. Mic drop. I like, say after that, honestly. I was getting little spicy. Nah, nah, nah. I think this has been great. This is still Amex, so we're not going to take too much of Asse's time. I know there's somebody out there looking for her right now. On behalf of the lounge, though, Asse, we would like to thank you for taking your time to kick it with us in the lounge. It's been cool. And we can't wait for the next time that we all get to kick it.
00:47:39
Speaker
Love it Invite me. I love the lounge. Thank you so much for coming off. We really appreciate it. here