Welcome to Our Voices, Our Future, the podcast
where we amplify the voices driving change and
equity within medicine and beyond. Brought to
you by the Gender Equity Task Force, a committee
of the American Medical Women's Association,
we're here to challenge norms, break barriers,
and ignite conversations that matter. I'm Rhea
Munahur, and in each episode, we'll bring you
candid discussions with leaders, change makers,
and advocates working to create a more inclusive
and just world. No more silence, no more waiting,
You are listening to Our Voices, Our Future.
Let's get into it. Today we're welcoming the
creator of our podcast, Megan Etsy, as a guest.
Megan is a fourth year medical student at St.
George's University pursuing a residency in internal
medicine, and she's also a dear friend of mine.
This podcast was born from her passion for advocacy,
storytelling and creating space for voices that
are often overlooked in medicine. Outside of
her academic work, Megan loves music, exploring
the world and connecting with new people through
service and shared experiences. At the heart
of her work is a commitment to advocating for
those who cannot advocate for themselves and
helping build a more equitable human centered
health care system. Thank you so much for being
with us today. and sitting on the other side
of the table, guest. Yeah, thanks for having
me. Excited to do this today. Okay, so getting
started, can you share with us your medical journey
and what fueled your drive to become a physician?
Yeah, so it actually, I'm not the person who
like came out of the womb wanting to be a doctor.
Like some of these people say, up into middle
school, I wanted to be a lawyer. I loved arguing.
I was good at it. I was like, we're gonna be
a lawyer. I'll argue for the rest of my life.
Until I came to the realization, I think it was
in seventh grade, that I would probably have
to defend guilty people. And something about
that just didn't sit right with me. And so I
shifted over to medicine. My mom was a nurse
growing up my whole life. She was a single mom
for most of my life so she was kind of my go
-to for everything and she would always like
come home telling stories of being at the hospital
and you know, I didn't have that. I don't remember
a childhood where I grew up thinking that my
parent was absent, although they were in medicine.
I grew up To this day, I'm like, when did my
mom work? Because she was always there, you know?
I don't know how she did it. But she was really
good at that balance. And so into high school,
I was like, all right, we're going to be a doctor.
At first, I was like, I think everybody was like,
we're going to be a surgeon because everybody
thinks that's the coolest type of doctor. and
so of course for a while I wanted to be a surgeon
and in high school my mom became a nurse practitioner
so I was kind of like grown and got to see that
transition from a nurse to a nurse practitioner
and that was a really cool experience that kind
of just gave me that strength to want to do it.
However, I had a couple setbacks. My senior year
I was touring colleges for pre -med and I went
to one where I saw everybody had like a 4 .0
and above a 30 on the ACT and I was like, I can't
do this. I can do pre -med. I had to take the
ACT five times to get a 27. Like this isn't going
to happen. And so I was scared and I actually
started undergrad as a nursing major. But after
the first couple weeks of classes, my confidence
came back. I was like, no, I can do this. I switched
to pre -med and I would love to say the rest
was history and it was straight through, but
it wasn't because come MCAT time, I didn't do
very well in MCAT. I got a 493. Then again, as
everybody tells you, if you can't pass the MCAT,
you can't go to med school, you're not going
to pass any of your board exams. So then I was
like having this big Midlife crisis. Okay, so
did I go to PA school? Did I go to MP school?
Like I was going through that and my mom really
pushed me as she's a nurse practitioner. She
was like, you know, I really see the difference
between what I know and what the doctors know
in the training. And I think you're absolutely
capable of becoming a doctor. I think you need
to just do it. So it was really tough for a while.
but we did it and I went to a Caribbean school
and I think up until about this point in my life
it was still like a question to me like is this
truly going to happen but now that I'm like so
close to the other side of it and successfully
having interviews for residency and about to
graduate it kind of feels real now that I'm going
to be a doctor. And so I always came back to
the kind of that same goal in the end. We had
a few, a few hurdles and a few questions, but
here we are. We're doing it and it's, it's for
real now. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that
with me. And I think a lot of people go through
that. They hear that they must follow this certain
path or they have to have these certain metrics.
And there are so many different paths to medicine
as you and I both know. So a lot of your work
thus far has focused on advocacy and raising
your voice. What helped you realize that advocacy
doesn't have to wait until after residency or
being in a leadership role? Yeah, so I think
this really first started during undergrad. When
I was working in the hospital, actually, I think
I really learned by watching patients that you
truly are your best advocate. If nobody else
is going to advocate for you in this world, then
who? It's going to be you, right? And I truly
understand that not everybody is able to do that
for themselves, whether it be they quite literally
don't have a voice, they don't know how to do
it for themselves, they don't have the confidence
to do it for themselves. I think that is so sad.
And realizing that in undergrad was something
that kind of gave me a little push. But it wasn't
quite something that I thought I could do until
I got to the gender equity task force, right?
So this is not something that I would go and
do and just advocate for everybody and whatever,
even myself. I have not been a great advocate
for myself because it's scary. It's scary to
do that stuff. I just started doing it. I joined
this committee and I at first made interest with
the blogs and the podcast and I was like, I'm
going to do this. And as I started doing it and
like making these posts and seeing people like
come to me and say, what you're doing is so cool.
And I was like, wait, really? I thought this
was like silly business that people hated, right?
Nobody wants to hear that squeaky wheel. Nobody,
you know, like yeah the people who advocate like
this are always known as the annoying people
so i thought i was going to be the annoying people
right but it's so not true people come to me
and they're like what you're doing is so cool
and they they think it's so cool and then i have
reflected back on who did i think was cool in
middle school The high schoolers who was cool
in high school the undergrad who was cool and
undergrad the med students You know, there's
always these people that are looking up to you
That you can have an impact on regardless I still
remember people from a long time ago that had
that impact on me and I guess you don't really
realize that can happen to you until you're in
that position where people are vocally saying
like what you're doing is making a difference,
right? It's like just starting and in doing it
is where it starts. I mean, you don't have to
be in a position of power. And you know what,
I am in a position of power and I think I'm extremely
blessed to be in the position that I am in. I
truly think that just being a med student itself
puts you in a position to have a voice and to
say things and people will treat it differently
as if I wasn't a medical student. And so I take
that. I take that and really realize what weight
that carries. And I think we should not take
it for advantage, you know? I think we need to
realize, you know what, like being a medical
student really is a huge privilege. And you have
this knowledge and this ability to share things.
And I almost think that not doing so is a bit
of a disservice to others. So yeah, so. not only
can you take this voice and knowledge and I think
it seems less scary to advocate for others and
as you advocate for others not only are you doing
a service to other people but you're serving
yourself as well because when you're advocating
for others you learn how to advocate for yourself
as well. As I have done this and I've done this
podcast and I've had many conversations I probably
have like six books sitting here that people
recommended to me on how to learn how to advocate
for myself as well. And yeah, so not only are
you going to be serving others, but you kind
of learn how to serve yourself more. And I think
that's super precious. Definitely. I think something
that you said was really interesting. As a med
student, you still feel like you're in a place
of power and you have this voice. I feel like
throughout... medical school and you'll hear
it from other med students and other residents
and even faculty being like med students are
the bottom of the barrel in terms of this hierarchy.
So how do you feel about advocating when you're
constantly hearing things like that? Yeah, I
think you have to have a bigger perspective.
So sure, I am the bottom of the barrel right
now. I'm going to become a resident. I'm going
to go back to the bottom. You know, I think it's
just this big cycle of being at the bottom, but
that's the bottom of the barrel of a very small
amount of people in this world. And there are
many more people in this world than the people
that are doctors. So in the scheme of becoming
a doctor, sure, I understand. I am totally at
the bottom of the barrel. But in the world, and
I think it comes from a place of like having
people in my family who are not doctors. If I
go talk to my dad about something, he's like,
oh my gosh and it can be such a simple like medical
thing you know um it just that really humbles
you and makes you realize like there are a lot
of people in this world who can use your knowledge
and you can do a lot of good for it whether you
are a medical student even if you're pre -med
if you're a resident i think to some extent it
has equal effect as somebody who's been a physician
for 30 years. If you take somebody who's been
a physician for 30 years and they're not doing
anything with their voice and you compare it
to somebody like me who has the podcast and the
blog and is writing papers, who's using their
voice more? Who has more power in that situation
of advocacy? You know what I mean? Sure, a seasoned
physician 30 years doing great things and taking
care of patients, that's incredible, but if you're
not using your voice and advocating for people
in the position of advocacy, who is using their
power more? So I think it's just that bigger
look at things, right? Yeah. No, I love that
you shared that. And I think it's really important
for people to hear there's always this opportunity
to raise your voice in different ways. So looking
back on your journey through medical school,
what lessons has this advocacy during your training
taught you about leadership, resilience, and
the kind of position you want to become? like
I never looked at me having. I didn't look at
me being in this position a few years ago. And
I think it's summed up as the good fight. I think
that it's hard and it's definitely a fight. And
there are people who still do not believe. I
had a family member tell me that gender equity
is a myth because they were paid the same when
they worked in factories like 50 years ago as
their male counterparts. um and that's my family
you know like this is this is a very interesting
journey that I'm taking and so I think that what
that as an example has truly taught me is that
everybody comes from different backgrounds and
when I'm a physician it's very important to take
what people think and say with a grain of salt
because they may not just have the information
or understand. I love the family member dearly,
she's incredible, and that statement changes
nothing that I think about her, but it gives
me an opportunity for education, you know? I
think that it has taught me that in a general
way of how I will practice in the future as a
physician. For leadership and resilience, it's
been a little bit different. I think a lot with
the political climate right now, I was scared.
um I think we like questioned publishing some
papers and we changed titles for blog posts and
um kind of thought differently about people we
had on the podcast like oh is this gonna rumble
feathers especially with um money being taken
away from organizations and stuff lately you
know I was scared um mostly for my residency
application I was wondering like Am I not going
to get interviews because these things are going
to be in my publications? Is there going to be
issues in interviews? And honestly, I have gotten
the utmost respect and the best conversations
from my residency interviews over this work.
I've had incredible conversations with program
directors and attendings and residents about
this work, and it really just solidifies and
reassures me that I'm doing the right thing.
And although there's some loud voices out there
that don't agree with the things that I am passionate
about, it doesn't mean that I'm wrong and it
doesn't mean the work that I'm doing is not good.
It just makes times a little scary, but I think
that that means you need to be more resilient
in these times and understand that it's okay.
It's really going to be okay. Oh, that's awesome.
And I think a lot of med students who have this
kind of passion for advocacy and public health
work are feeling that right now. Where do you
use your voice and how loud do you want to be?
Yeah, absolutely. You created and host this podcast,
Our Voices, Our Future, as a medical student.
Can you walk us through how and why you started
the podcast and really what gap you hope to fill
in medical spaces with it? Yeah, so I don't want
to take all of the credit. Dr. Joanna Georgiakis
is the OG of the creation of this podcast. She's
in episode one and then she's going to be a couple
episodes after this one again. She created a
podcast when she was way before me. She's a fellow
now and she created a podcast many years ago
and the task force was like, hey, we want to
do this podcast again. and this was at my first
meeting actually that I came to for the task
force and I was like I'll do it I'll create a
podcast we can continue on she can be season
one we'll continue on with season two and that's
what we did um it was annoying at first there
were so many hoops to jump through and I wanted
to give up but every time that I would go to
meetings and just give them a little tidbit.
Oh, I found a way to do this or I found a way
to do that. Just the faces would light up and
it was so cool. And that's when I knew like I'm
doing something good and I'm so happy I continued
with it. It took several months just to like
record the first podcast. And I am a big instant
gratification girlie. Like, I want stuff done
now. So that was a lot for me. But it's been
such a great time. We're about to complete a
year's worth of episodes, which is super cool.
And I think, like, the gaps it fills, it's just
so many, you know? I at first thought I was only
going to be interviewing attendings and talking
about their stories in medicine, and we have,
no, like we've stretched so far, like we've done
medical students, we've talked to PAs, NPs, lawyers
about negotiating, you know, like we have just
kind of like gone everywhere and it's been so
cool and I think that I can't give a quanta -
or qualification as to how we have filled gaps
or what gaps we have filled. But I know that
there are so many gaps and we're putting a little
bit of putty in each of them, which has been
super cool. I want to talk a little bit more
about that storytelling that you've touched on.
So you use this as a tool for advocacy. How have
you seen personal stories influence culture,
policy, or awareness within medicine? really
in every way. It's been so cool. I think the
best part of doing this podcast for myself is
getting to have these conversations with all
these people in medicine. There have been so
many incredible women who have amazing stories
that not only have inspired me through the conversations,
but inspire so many people. I think One of the
first people and the first people story I've
heard about is Dr. Gephardt who created the gender
equity task force and is a past president of
ANWWA. She has incredible story about her training
and just hearing her story like in thinking about
it just gives me goosebumps because the things
that she went through and she advocated for many
years ago it's just like sets me on fire and
I know these things happen and I'm just so inspired
by the actions that she took and she was not
afraid. She was willing to lose her job. She
was willing to do what she needed for the right
voices to be heard and it's just incredible to
hear and so inspiring and then all the way from
Dr. Gebhard years and years ago Starting with
those stories, we have stories today. Christine,
who I interviewed a few episodes ago, she is
a mom, she's a PA student, and she had babies,
two babies, she has two little boys during her
schooling, and just hearing that medical education
does not have parental leave policies, well,
I think it's like 85 % of schools do not have
policies, and if they do, most of them are policies
for their workers and not for the students, and
most of the students policies on average are
like 12 days of maternity leave. Like 12 days?
That's including like birth and everything. Like,
oh my gosh, I can't, yeah. Here we are in 2026
and we're lacking these policies in so many medical
schools. Like how are we supposed to... have
women that are practicing medicine that are not
stopping themselves from going to school because
they want to have babies. Why can't we have both
of these things, you know? And that's Christine
today. She's in PA school right now and she is
fighting this battle and she is so inspiring.
She has such a heart for this and she is read
all of the literature and investigated so many
different schools' policies and she has come
up with some incredible things. She's going to
be presenting at the conference here in March
and she's just so passionate about it and it's
so awesome to see her heart and how she just
lights up the world with how passionate she is
about this. These are the women that do things,
that make changes, and I think that it's just
so cool to see this these women that just treads
through ends and to make change happen. And I
don't think in the moment Dr. Gephardt had any
idea of the change she would make in the future.
And I don't think Christine has any idea right
now the change that she's gonna make in the future.
And I think that's the coolest thing about it.
And I'm so excited to see that happen in the
future. Yeah, it's really about like, what can
you do in this moment? And where is it going
to go just because you're passionate about it
and you want to see something happen? Exactly.
There is a real risk in speaking up early in
medical education. And we kind of touched on
this a little bit. Fear of repercussions being
labeled as difficult or standing out. How have
you navigated those risks and what rewards have
you seen? Yeah, I think that's so true. I know
we talked about it a little before, but I think
it's super important to really hit on. That's
something that is always in the back of my mind.
I know I talked about being afraid back before
applying to residency and what effect is this
going to have on my residency application, but
it's still in the back of my mind every day today.
I work on this work daily and I still have that
thought in the back of my mind. which one of
these projects are going to push me over the
edge, which one is going to get me in trouble.
And, you know, I think there's a balance. I think
there's a way to advocate and be respectful.
But I also am a true believer that if you go
in to do something and you're advocating for
people with a good heart, that the outcome will
never be ill, that the good intention is what's
going to get you through. And I truly believe
that. Like I'm solely here to help and advocate
for others and myself. And I believe that in
the end, even if there are small setbacks, like
we didn't get a grant last year because of the
public face of supporting the work we're doing
and the worries that the government would step
foot in that. And that's fine, this is a small
setback. We didn't stop our project, we just
changed what we were doing with the project so
we didn't need money. There's going to be those
setbacks and things are going to happen, but
I think it's all temporary and I think that in
the end it's all going to be okay, but that's
a true fear and I think that it's important for
people to think about it, to be aware of it,
to understand that it is a possibility, but I
think that As we say in medicine, the benefits
outweigh the risks, for sure, with the work that
we're doing. For sure. And I think this is something
that you and I talk about on a regular basis,
like reframing how do we change what we're doing,
but still keep the essence of that advocacy work.
And even just like talking with peers and mentors
about it is an opportunity for us to be able
to still do these things. Absolutely. So obviously
you are doing a lot and many students and trainees
want to advocate but don't really know where
to start. What are tangible ways that trainees
can begin building platforms without burning
out? Talk to somebody. I think like I will talk
to anybody about this. I will get anybody on
board. You watched me get dozens of people on
board with this work. I think you just Find somebody
who's doing what you want to do and talk to them.
Start a conversation. That's what I did. And
here we are. And it's been such a cool journey.
I think there's so many... I would argue that
there's not one person who does this advocacy
work who is not willing to teach somebody else
how to do it. I think that it comes with full
good heart, good intentions, and that comes with
good mentorship as well. And so just do it. I
think that... Like I said before, not only is
it one of the best things you can do for other
people, but it's one of the best things you can
do for yourself. And so it's a win -win situation.
And I think that it's so important to get involved
early because not only does it... matter for
other people, but it matters for yourself, especially
as a woman in medicine. Learning how to advocate
for yourself early in medicine is so important,
and so just having and sparking that conversation
with somebody may be life -changing. It might
completely change your trajectory, and I think
that is incredibly important. So finally, I have
one last question for you. For listeners who
feel their voices are too small to matter right
now, what would you say to them about speaking
up, even when it feels uncomfortable or premature?
I think that it's a lie. Nobody's voice is too
small. I think it's just dependent upon how you
use it. I think that I'm walking the truth of
that statement because I used to believe that
lie as well. However, I've done some really cool
things and it's done some really cool things.
And so I think that you just have to like recognize
that that is in fact a lie and you need to stop
lying to yourself and just start where you're
comfortable and slowly wick your way into areas
that you're less comfortable in and that's going
to get you there. I truly believe that you just
like get your feet wet just a little bit. It's
gonna feel uncomfortable. Find somebody you're
comfortable with. Talk to them. And it's never
premature. We talked about this already. We can
X that off the dock because it's never premature.
Even if you think it is and nothing's gonna happen,
well then start and just get good at it and be
better when it's not premature. But yeah, I think
it comes down to just talking to somebody, always.
For sure. Well, thank you so much for sharing
your insights and your stories with us today.
That's a wrap on this episode of Our Voices,
Our Future. We hope today's conversation inspired
you, challenged you, and reminded you of the
power of raising your voice. The fight for equity
doesn't stop here. Join us in the movement. Subscribe
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this podcast, share it with someone who needs
to hear it. Until next time, stay bold, stay
vocal, and keep the conversation going. This
is our voices, our future.