Anthony Cheung, MED’21

What is special to you about BUSM?

There will never be a curriculum, technology, or facility at BUSM that surpasses the community in its effect on my professional and personal growth. I’m inspired everyday by the humility, compassion, and humor of my classmates, faculty and mentors.

How do you spend downtime or what do you do for wellness?

When my study schedule syncs up with my roommates’ we break out the board games at the coffee table. I’m reading Becoming by Michelle Obama with my college friend as a way to stay in touch. I’m also fortunate to have my family nearby so I’ll grab lunch with my parents and visit my grandparents on weekends that are less busy.

Most memorable patient interaction?

I was following a man in his 20s during my medicine clerkship who felt like he was being ignored because he was “just another drug addict at BMC”. He was very anxious at baseline and when our team told him that he needed surgery for endocarditis he berated us for all the pain he had endured and had yet to endure. “You treat me like an animal, well I’m human too!” he said with tears in his eyes. When I returned that afternoon he greeted me with the usual “Hey Tony” but his eyes remained fixed to the floor. We sat in silence for at least a minute before he spoke. He talked about his friends who had died from endocarditis. He mentioned a church parking lot they used to sled down in Brighton. “The one with the giant tree root halfway down?” I asked. Turns out we grew up on the same block.

What has been an unexpected experience or revelation?

I did not expect to be able to advocate far more effectively for my family and friends who are patients because of my knowledge of pertinent positives and negatives and workflow of an inpatient service. I’m hopeful that patient education will continue to improve so that patients who don’t personally know healthcare professionals can better advocate for themselves.

What unexpected challenges have you faced as a medical student and how’d you overcome them?

I expected the rest of my life would wait for me while I was in medical school, but I learned that life doesn’t stop because you are a student and nor should it. I wondered how I could make time and energy to grieve and celebrate life events while doing the same for academics. I learned that maintaining dispositional optimism and humor allowed me to do both without dragging baggage from one domain to another.