Episode 25: PRIYANKA GERA

September 4, 2025

INTERVIEW BY Amar Gopal

Edited by Amar Gopal

Where did you grow up, and what was your hometown like?

I grew up on Long Island—Plainview specifically. It’s honestly a cute little suburban town—lots of mom-and-pop shops, pretty good vibes, nowhere near the water, though. We’re like 30 minutes from Jones Beach, which is kind of sad, but it is always a worth the trip during summer break.

Are you a beach/waterside person?

Sometimes. We weren’t a beach family growing up. I think we were more of the type to go there for the boardwalk or things like that, but not the beach itself. We’re more like an activity-based family, so sitting down at a beach is uneventful—you reach a limit after two hours of it. But it’s always fun. I think these days, with life being so hectic, it’s kind of nice to just relax. I’m more of a beach person now.

What kind of kid were you? How did you spend your time?

This is gonna be the nerdiest answer in history. I had my head in a book, like, 24/7. A very quiet kid, obsessed with Harry Potter. If you were ever confused about what gift to get me—Harry Potter-themed—and I’d love you. For me, it  was always homework and studying and school clubs and reading books. That was just my vibe. The girl with the glasses sitting in the front row. Teacher’s pet. I think that’s the best way to describe my younger self.

What’s your favorite Harry Potter book, and why?

Goblet of Fire. Without hesitation. I don’t know why, but I think the Triwizard Tournament was such an enticing part of his journey. It was just so cool. I think that was also my favorite movie, so I think that deepens my love for the book. And it’s also, if I’m not wrong, one of the longest books in the series—or one of them, at least. I think it was just interesting to see how he was solving all the quests to get through the tournament and how he was the “Chosen One.” Somebody put his name in the goblet, and it was just the mystery behind it all. I loved it.

Books or movies—what do you prefer, and how do you compare them?

Books. Always. No matter what series it is. I like the movies, but I think sometimes it’s important to watch the movies as a separate series. When you start comparing them detail by detail to the book, then it might be slightly disappointing. The whole point of a movie is that it’s more visual stimulation, so you don’t use your imagination at all like when you are reading. Movies are just one interpretation of the books. Books always over the movie though.

Which Harry Potter character do you relate to most?

100% Hermione. She’s book-smart, feels like she knows things, but is always willing to learn and absorb more. She’s got this insatiable curiosity, which I absolutely adore. But she’s also got friends that push her to her limits and get her out of her comfort zone, which kind of describes me in my friend groups too. So I think I relate to her the most.

Any unusual hobbies or obsessions (besides reading)?

I love collecting bookmarks. I don’t know if that would be unusual, per se, but it was one of my collections I always had and still have. My family usually collects keychains wherever we go—we’ve got a huge box from everywhere we’ve ever been. My personal thing, as a subset of that, is specifically bookmarks (also related to reading, and unfortunately I didn’t stray too far from that). I’ve got this one from the Statue of Liberty—like a metal one with cutouts; it’s just a really cool bookmark. Even if it’s not a really touristy place, if I find a beautiful bookmark, I’m getting it. I’ve got a hand-painted one from Georgia, a hand-stitched one from Switzerland—just unique things like that. How big is my bookmark collection you ask? I could do better. That’s what I’m working on. It’s a work in progress.

Who influenced you most—family and community?

Family-wise, my mom. Community-wise, my Spanish teacher. I spent so much time with my mom, and her values change the way I see the world. I’m extremely close to her, so she definitely influences me a lot in the way I do things and the way I respond in situations. In the community—my Spanish teacher. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have majored in Spanish; I wouldn’t be speaking Spanish like I do these days. I truly enjoyed her class. She made me feel so welcome and comfortable—I felt safe in that class. That led me to change my major in college to Spanish and really pursue that. Honestly, if it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing today professionally.

When did writing and reading poetry start for you?

Middle school. I had gone to India for my aunt’s wedding. My English teacher at the time—Mr. R—was big into poetry and anthologies, so he encouraged the class to each write a poem; he’d put them together as a class anthology and submit it to the local Walt Whitman poetry contest. I was going to be in India for the first two months of school, so he told me to keep a daily journal—about what’s going on and how I’m feeling. He was curious about Indian weddings and all the rituals and wanted to see it from my perspective. I came back with two journals filled with daily entries. He read and absolutely loved them, and he encouraged me to put them together into my own poem. It went into the class anthology; our class won. I won too—specifically for that poem. I remember going to the Walt Whitman house for the awards ceremony and getting a little award. It was really cute. That was the first time I felt confident about writing, and I’ve continued since then. Not something I’ve published—more something I do for myself.

Do you read or write poetry more, and is poetry a cathartic outlet for you?

I don’t think I read poetry as much as I would like. I keep buying poetry books. I really should read them more. I probably write more often than I read. I’d like that to be more balanced, because you draw inspiration from other people’s writings in order to write yourself. When I started writing poetry back in middle school, it was more just something that was fun—anything that piqued my interest, I’d try to write about it. As I got older, these days it’s more about trying to express how I’m feeling. Most people struggle with finding the right words, and sometimes it isn’t a specific word—it’s describing a feeling, a universal experience. So now it’s more about expression, versus when I was a kid it was fun: writing haikus and rhyming things—a fun little hobby.

Did you always want to be a doctor, or was there a turning point toward medicine?

I didn’t always want to be a doctor, but I always wanted to work in a hospital. There was just something about that sterile environment—the hand-sanitizer smell—that I liked. It felt controlled. At first, I leaned toward pharmacy. I had family and family friends in pharmacy school and they had amazing things to say; even the Walgreens pharmacist was nice [both laugh]. I figured maybe I’d work  in a hospital pharmacy. But I slowly realized I liked more patient interaction. Shadowing was hard to get, but I volunteered whenever I could. The real turning point was a medical mission to Ecuador. I was pre-med but still on the fence. Being in surgery, actually seeing what they were doing, gave me solid evidence to push me down that path. So it was always something in the hospital/medical field, but mid-college was when I 100% decided.

Tell me about the Ecuador medical mission—when, with whom, and what you did.

January 2020, right before the pandemic. A local nonprofit on Long Island has a sister hospital in Ecuador; they do pro bono cases and take volunteer physicians. When I went, it was physicians and surgeons from Stony Brook, and it was a general surgery/plastic surgery mission—cleft palates, syndactyly repairs, and cholecystectomies (gallbladder removals). It was the first time I saw pre-op, post-op—what nurses and surgeons are doing—and followed patients start to finish (child or elderly) through their hospital course. That changed things because ED volunteering here is such a short interaction. There, we had enough people to follow a few patients each, so you could actually see the course. It gave me a much deeper insight and I felt like I was helping and part of it. It was also the first time I’d gone to a Spanish-speaking country; I realized my Spanish was actually coming in handy beyond the classroom—using it in a real-life situation was amazing.

What did you study in college, and what else defined that time outside academics?

I was a double major—Spanish and Environmental Science. I originally went in as a bio major but decided, “If I’m going to do bio the rest of my life, I might as well do something a little different for four years.” I absolutely fell in love with Spanish in high school/AP Spanish, so I pursued it as a degree—lots of poetry and writing short stories, which built up the writer's side of me in an entirely different language. Environmental Science helped with pre-med requirements, but also—when else are you going to learn about soil composition? I took such cool classes. When am I going to need to know that? Never—but it’s fun and different. It wasn’t about the body; it was about the particles you’re inhaling and how that might be killing you. I went toSt. John’s University in Queens—close enough to go home on weekends, but it was my first time living on my own most of the week. The pandemic happened in the middle, so two years on campus, two commuting from home. It was a time of independence, finding what I liked, who I was, and figuring out my path. I took a Zumba class, tried out for the dance team, tried almost every club—college is the time to explore and experiment. I also did the newspaper, The Torch, and ended up being managing editor when I graduated. That was a huge part of my college life too. It was a good time.

Did you take any gap years before medical school, and how do you feel about gap years now?

I didn’t. I applied my senior year of college—worst case, I’d take gap years, but I figured let me try, and I got in. I had about two months off before starting med school. For me, it helped because I was already in the flow of studying, so it was an easy transition. I have no personal experience with a gap year to say if it would have helped. A lot of my friends did take gap years. It’s interesting to see how, at my age, they were figuring themselves out and living on their own for the first time, whereas I’m that age now in med school. Different experiences; we all bring something different to the table. I don’t think gap years are inherently good or bad—it depends on the person.

How did the first days of medical school feel compared to expectations?

I’m so thankful I did the Prematriculation Program. You come two weeks before everyone else to get a feel for campus, in a small cohort of 24 students. You meet professors and deans and settle in before everything starts. That made a huge difference—less intimidating. The 24 of us are still close friends. It made the transition less stressful. I would’ve been much more overwhelmed starting with the whole class of ~200 during orientation week. Having that small-group buffer made me more comfortable being alone on campus. I’d absolutely recommend it. You have to apply. It helps you feel more confident beginning med school. Dr. Etienne runs the whole thing—it’s amazing.

What’s been your biggest challenge in med school, and how did you work through it?

Figuring out what I want to do with the rest of my life. In college, “medicine” is the answer; in med school, it’s “what type of medicine?” I didn’t have that spark people talk about during rotations. Mine was more of a process of elimination and slowly, gradually falling in love with one. Textbook medicine is so different from clinical medicine—what I liked in pre-clinicals, I didn’t necessarily love in the hospital. That internal battle was the challenge. Ultimately, my slow love was internal medicine because it’s a little bit of everything. I can be as curious as I want and don’t have to choose just one. I think I’ve completed that challenge.

Was there a particular encounter or rotation that confirmed your path?

Not a single interaction. I considered OB-GYN for a long time and had a memorable interaction with a Spanish-speaking patient. But across rotations, what stuck were the qualities and values in those interactions: understanding where the patient was coming from, communicating, and patient education. Those traits were present in internal medicine, especially preventive medicine. So it wasn’t one patient; I took something from each and found the field that incorporated all of it.

Outside medicine, what keeps you grounded?

Reading. 100 percent. I know it’s cliché, but it really is for me. I get so much peace from books. I just finished The Memory Piece by Lisa Ko—I could not put it down. It inspires my own writing; it’s empowering to see others put words to paper with such clarity. I’m reading a Vincent van Gogh biography right now—huge is an understatement; it probably weighs more than me—and I’m so excited. From the first chapter, I loved the author’s writing; I want to know more about this man and his life. Beyond that: going on walks, listening to music, exploring new genres. But reading is a big part of my identity.

Funniest or most unexpected moment in med school?

I can’t think of the funniest moment on the spot, but one of the weirdest moments was watching Cocaine Bear with my friends during med school. I don’t think I’ll ever watch that movie again [both laugh].

Does your background influence how you approach patients and colleagues?

100%. Growing up first-gen Indian-American—one culture at home (speaking only Hindi) and one outside (only English)—they don’t blend. That kind of confusion impacted me. With patients who don’t speak English, I can’t imagine how hard it is to not be able to tell anyone exactly how you’re feeling. That’s why I’ve focused on learning languages, so I can interact firsthand instead of through a third-party translator (which makes things awkward and less personal). It’s also a big reason I chose public health. A lot of resources aren’t catered to people who don’t speak English, and most research is done in primarily white cohorts. For example, there was an initiative on what rashes look like on darker skin—none of us really know because you might not see the typical erythema described in textbooks. How are you treating all your patients without knowing that variation? Coming from a different background made me understand the differences you have to account for, and I want to work toward addressing them.

What kind of physician do you hope patients and colleagues see you as?

A compassionate physician—someone who loves the community. I pursued public health to work closely with a group of people. I’m not looking for a legacy that makes me “famous.” I want to make a true impact, even if it’s local—a program or initiative that spreads awareness and helps people understand a topic. That would be my most important legacy. 

What’s one life lesson from med school you’ll keep—and pass on?

Take a moment for yourself if you need it. You can’t give back or pursue your legacy or do anything if you don’t take care of yourself. You don’t want to regret anything in the future. Medicine will still be there, but who you are right now might change. Take care of yourself, because it will make you a better person.

When you picture life 10–15 years from now, what does it look like (professionally and personally)?

Professionally, I’d love to be associated with a private practice. Also being in a mentor position (working with residents or students) or teaching at  an academic institution. I’d hope to be part of a local clinic, too—that would be amazing. Personally: a family, at least two dogs. The white picket-fence house—the good dreams, you know?

Contact Priyanka at pgera@student.nymc.edu.

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