Voices of HMSOM: Mehta Makes Medical Career Through Passion, Persistence

The doctor was totally in command; there was no time to lose. The emergency room physician took one look at the sick patient, and she started to delegate responsibilities and roles. Questions and observations led to planning, the next steps - and then she helped the nurses and others get that person the care they needed at that most dire of times.

The EMS squad member who had brought that sick patient into the hospital was Dhriti Mehta, now a Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine medical student, who found her life track forever altered by the singular experience.

“She was a force, that ER doc,” recalled Mehta. “She led the team, everybody listened to her, and she got everyone together on the same track. She was my inspiration in that moment, and I’ve kind of followed in those footsteps ever since.”

Mehta, now in her third year of medical school, is on track to graduate this spring with her medical degree. After more than 1,500 EMT and paramedic calls, she is at the cusp of becoming a physician and continuing a vocation of healing - which has become her passion, and life’s calling.

“Dhriti Mehta’s drive is a true testament to the perseverance which rewards those who are called to medicine,” said Jeffrey Boscamp, M.D., the president and dean of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

A CALLING - AND A SAVE

Medicine actually presented a distinct turn-off for Mehta from her earliest memories. Her mom’s sister, who was in residency as a physician, had left a textbook with graphic photos of skin diseases which disgusted the then-7-year-old girl.

But despite that, it was a decade later when her high-school guidance counselor encouraged the science-loving student to try taking an AP Biology class. In her teenage years, she found herself suddenly hooked; and it was that science teacher who even recommended she join the local EMS squad.

“It was kind of my introduction into medicine - to get a better look at patient care - and really decided my interest in this field,” she recalled.

Along the way, she graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in biology and highest honors - and even shadowed a doctor in India where she saw surgeries weekly, every Wednesday afternoon, as an undergrad.

But she kept hitting the road to care for patients. Ultimately, Mehta received the certifications to become a paramedic - a role which includes more advanced techniques and tools beyond an EMT.

The things she has seen in the estimated 1,500 emergency calls over the last decade have enriched her understanding of human health, Mehta said. One call particularly stands out, just from last year.

Normally the EMTs are the first to arrive and they are the ones to determine whether further paramedic assistance is needed. On this call the first responders originally did an assessment that the patient was having a panic attack, and they said Mehta and the advanced life support was not needed. So Mehta and her colleagues started to pack their equipment up. But that message was quickly reversed; the patient was unconscious and there was no pulse.

The paramedics rushed in; Mehta put the monitor on the pads on him. They moved fast; less than two minutes after they’d detected no heartbeat, they shocked him. Mehta readied IV access; but then her partner noticed something. The patient was moving. The eyes opened. The pulse was back.

“He actually woke up, looked around, and was like, ‘Oh my god, what happened?’” Mehta recounted. “And we’re like, ‘You literally died.’”

“For me, that call really verified why we exist - it was a great feeling.”

Mehta and her colleagues got a commendation - and she still keeps the EKG strips from the entire encounter as a reminder of the good she can do in a healing role.

PERSISTENCE - AND EXTRACURRICULARS

Not every success has come at the first attempt, though. Originally Mehta had difficulty with her anatomy classes at HMSOM. It led her to take a leave of absence - which is the time she took advantage of to become certified as a paramedic.

When she returned to school, she had a “fresh mind” - and a newfound appreciation for her path.

The “fresh mind” led to some new strategies which have made all the difference. For those difficulties with anatomy, she developed an entire workbook on the subject with diagrams, tables, and clinical correlates which are broken up by each week of the curriculum. This time around, she made the grade.

She has also developed “StuDy Guides” - the capital “D” is for Dhriti - which are intended to also assist with the curriculum. In this she created short review pages for every single lecture throughout the didactic portion of medical school. Eventually she plans to create short accompanying videos to assist with the learning.

But the workbook and the guides have been shared among other student groups at the HMSOM, intending to help students like her who may have wanted a different kind of organizational structure to the lessons.

Making the most of her medical school years was always paramount. She took part in the Organ Transplant Club, the Women in Surgery Interest Group, and the Emergency Medicine Interest Group.

THE FUTURE

Mehta is part of the accelerated, three-year track toward a medical degree at HMSOM. She has been accepted for a general surgery residency at Hackensack University Medical Center. That start might lead to a calling for working with pediatrics, since it was her favorite overall rotation for surgery during her education.

“I love working with kids,” said Mehta. “The pathologies that you see amongst them are really fascinating, and kids are so resilient. It’s beautiful to see them bounce back.”

Mehta was born in India, her family moved to the United States before she was a year of age, and she graduated from a local New Jersey high school. But she still has two of her biggest supporters - a grandfather and grandmother - who are in India, and who she has visited virtually every summer of her life. Back home, she spends time with indoor hobbies, such as jigsaw puzzles and lego sets.

The doctor-to-be plans to stay in the Northeast, near her parents and brother, for the foreseeable future. After all, the Garden State is where she has developed her life’s calling.

“I love New Jersey - it has diversity, true diversity,” she said. “People come here from all over the world, and they hold onto their culture. And it’s a beautiful thing to see.”