My name is Callie and I am a medical student in my final year at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth. You may see me around the clinic this month, and you might even recognize me from a few years ago when I was working as a Medical Assistant at CHARM. I am currently back rotating with the CHARM doctors who also gave me the start to my clinical training 5 years ago. I had just graduated from UT Austin and was looking for a way to gain some “real world” medical experience while applying to medical school. I learned more than I could have ever anticipated from the wonderful doctors and staff during that time. I gained confidence in skills like taking medical histories and handling medical equipment while soaking up every bit of information I could. I was observing as they put patients at ease, evaluated their concerns, and devised a plan with them that best fit their goals. They truly embody the example of empathetic care that my school would later emphasize in my studies to become a compassionate provider. One of the most unique parts about CHARM is in its name, the innovative field of Regenerative Medicine. Most medical students won’t have any exposure to this field and I was lucky enough to see its benefits firsthand. Before working at CHARM, I hadn’t heard of Osteopathic Medicine, but I learned that Regenerative and Osteopathic medicine share a founding philosophy of the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. Starting my path toward becoming a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine felt like a natural progression from my time in this clinic. The base of knowledge that I got from CHARM certainly prepared me well to dive into the whirlwind of medical school. As I worked through two years of classwork and my first of clinical training this past year I found myself always being continually drawn back to my experience here in the field of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R). Working at CHARM was my first exposure to PM&R, and it is now the field that I am pursuing for my residency training. As I start the journey to prepare for the next part of my educational path, I feel so fortunate to have the mentorship and support from everyone at CHARM as I do my best to follow in their footsteps.
