A new PBS documentary follows eight medical students from diverse backgrounds attending the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Morris Park, giving viewers a glimpse into the grueling journey from student to physician.
Several of those featured in “The Calling: A Medical School Journey” were from the New York City/New Jersey area, including northeast Bronx native Alexandra Perez, 28, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, who was in her fourth year of medical school at the time of filming.
The film, which premiered March 17, aims to show the humans behind the white coats, according to the film’s creators.
“Our medical education systems are under a great deal of scrutiny these days,” said Tim Smith, an executive director who developed the film project, in a statement. “This film will give its viewers confidence that tomorrow’s doctors have both the heart and intellectual firepower to make medical care better for all of us.”
Over the course of a year, crews followed Einstein students in lectures and cadaver labs, at home with their families, studying for exams, at student events, volunteering at free clinics and community organizations, and treating patients for the first time.
In an interview with the Bronx Times, Perez said she always knew she wanted some kind of service career. As she grew older and began to understand the limitations of the medical system, she also recognized the power of proper health care to “give people power back in their lives, to live the lives they want to live,” she said.
Perez didn’t know anyone who practiced medicine, but as an undergrad at Stonybrook University, she participated in a program through Einstein for prospective doctors from underrepresented backgrounds. The experience was a gamechanger that helped line up her next steps, said Perez.
For what came next, she took a “piecemeal, step-by-step” approach to figure out how to study for the medical school entrance exam and apply to programs. She applied to 20 medical schools and — with the help of her mother’s prayers, as shown in the film — she was accepted into Einstein, her top choice.
“It was a lot of research and figuring it out as I went along,” Perez said.
She decided early on to pursue a family medicine track, especially given the nationwide shortage of physicians in that specialty. Experts have predicted a shortage of between 17,000 and 48,000 primary care doctors by 2034.
Perez said the often-overlooked field of family medicine is “one of the most influential ways in which we can impact the different sectors of people’s lives.” By focusing on preventive rather than reactive care and monitoring patients over time, these doctors can make a huge difference in people’s health.
“Primary care felt like a no-brainer to me,” said Perez.
Perez, who views herself as a private and introverted person, said she almost turned down the opportunity to appear in the documentary. She received an email from the deans in search of students to interview for possible inclusion in the film, and she wanted to say no, but her partner urged her to step outside her comfort zone and give it a try.
When she met the film crew, producers and director at an introductory session, everything fell into place.
“I instantly felt comfortable with them,” Perez said, calling them all “warm and welcoming.” The film director, Asako Gladsjo from Harlem, is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and writer, and Perez felt at ease sharing her story in this unexpected way.
“Meeting the students, faculty and physician mentors at Einstein was such a humbling experience,” Gladsjo said in a statement. “I hope that young people from diverse backgrounds who might consider pursuing medicine will take inspiration from the film’s subjects and make our health care system better for everyone.”
Between structured interviews and being followed around by a camera crew, Perez said she hoped the resulting documentary would “humanize the profession.”
“I think there’s a lot of mistrust in providers and mistrust in the system, and rightfully so,” she said. “The medical system has done a lot of damage, unfortunately, to patients and families for a long time, and of course certain populations disproportionately.”
But at the same time, a lot of people like her are pursuing medicine for the right reasons, she said. “Most of the people I know that have gotten in this profession have been genuine, caring people who want to help.”
Today, many programs like Einstein are trying to recruit future doctors that reflect the populations that they serve. The school announced in Feb. 2024 that a $1 billion gift from Ruth L. Gottesman, chair of the Einstein Board of Trustees and a Montefiore Health System board member, will allow the school would go tuition-free in hopes of recruiting more students from diverse backgrounds.
Perez has now hit the halfway mark of a three-year family medicine residency at Montefiore, her first choice program. She wanted to work in her home borough, knowing that “it’s often the case that people will train here but go to other places for work.”
Perez said she sees many cases of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, substance use and mental health struggles, helping multiple patients per day “with all of those, or at least a few.”
With high demand for psychology services, “Often times, primary care is doing a lot of the mental health triage and counseling and management,” said Perez.
Although her time with individual patients is limited, primary care has “the power of the follow-up,” said Perez. As patients keep coming back, she has been able to build relationships and see the results of her treatment.
After one more year as a training doctor, she will apply for her first attending job, where she will work without supervision.
The documentary was a way for Perez to reflect on her own experience while perhaps encouraging others to follow in her footsteps.
“I hope people who think that this can’t be a career path for them … they kind of take the stories [in the film] and think about ways that they’re more resilient than they’re giving themselves credit for,” Perez said.
Many people can become great doctors, “but we also have to provide the means and opportunity for them to be able to take advantage of that.”
Perez said while it was “cringey” to see herself on camera, “I think [the documentary] represented me well” and was an overall benefit to her chosen profession.
“It felt like just hanging out with friends who just happened to have cameras,” said Perez. “I think it was a great experience.”
“The Calling: A Medical School Journey” is now available on all PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app.
Reach Emily Swanson at [email protected] or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
