This week Alyssa and Nadia get into something personal, what it actually feels like to navigate the healthcare system when you're not sure you'll be taken seriously.

It starts with an Instagram post about a woman who showed up to her appointment in heels and still got dismissed. A neurosurgeon decided her back pain couldn't be that bad if she was wearing them. The medical student in the room started wondering if she'd dressed up just to be believed.

From there Alyssa shares a story Nadia was actually part of. A contact lens appointment when Nadia was nine that went sideways fast, and how a healthcare provider can make a patient and their family feel small. Alyssa talks through the moment she caught herself trying to prove her own credibility to a stranger, mentioning skiing and snowboarding to signal that she was the kind of mom worth listening to. She's still a little embarrassed thinking about it.

Nadia brings in what she's been learning in her public health classes about unconscious bias, cultural competency, and why one size fits all thinking in medicine causes real harm. They get into pain scales, Spanish speaking patients, what it means to truly listen, and why in-person translators matter more than most people realize.

There's also a funny detour involving Eric and a misheard medical diagnosis in Colombia, which ends up making a pretty solid point about how easily misunderstandings can happen when language gets in the way.

Takeaways

• The way a patient dresses can say more about what they've had to survive in the system than what they're actually feeling that day

• Unconscious bias shows up in healthcare whether providers are aware of it or not, and awareness is only the first step

• Trying to perform credibility for a healthcare provider is exhausting, and it shouldn't be necessary

• A nine year old putting in contact lenses for the first time just needs someone patient, not someone with a point to prove

• Pain is personal and cultural, a 10 out of 10 doesn't mean the same thing for everyone

• The best providers use whatever time they have to actually listen

• Speaking a patient's language, literally or figuratively, changes the quality of care you can give

• In-person translators aren't a luxury, they're part of decent care

Chapters

• 0:10 – 6:08 Ambulances, city noise, and growing up in a quiet suburb versus Boston
• 6:08 – 10:21 The Instagram post about a woman in heels, a dismissive surgeon, and what dressing up at the doctor might really mean
• 10:21 – 19:24 Alyssa's contact lens story where a cold fitter left them both feeling small and how she caught herself trying to prove she was worth listening to
• 19:24 – 24:18 What Nadia's public health classes have taught her about bias, cultural competency, and the gaps in how providers are trained
• 24:18 – 29:59 Pain scales, Spanish-speaking patients, and what it looks like when someone just needs to be heard
• 29:59 – 34:07 Colombia, Eric's misdiagnosis, and the case for in-person translators
• 34:07 – 37:23 Which languages would actually help, and finding your footing as a new provider when you can speak someone's language

650.701.7686 (o)

650.332.2739 (f)

510.673.8712 (m)

Sports & Dance Rehab | Pilates | Group Classes

On the Move Physical Therapy

501-D Old County Rd.

Belmont, CA 94002

web - http://www.onthemovephysio.com

email - alyssa@onthemovephysio.com

IG - https://www.instagram.com/onthemovephysio

This week Alyssa and Nadia are joined by Lucy Shepherd, a close friend of Nadia's from their Dialogue of Civilizations program in Spain, to talk about growing up in different countries, finding a career path, and figuring out what comes next after graduation.

Lucy shares how she spent her childhood moving fromMaryland to Ecuador, then Peru and eventually seven years in Johannesburg, before landing in Boston for college. Along the way, that constant relocation shaped how she thinks about identity, belonging, and what it even means to call somewhere home.

At Northeastern, Lucy started out undeclared, trying on economics, environmental science, and communications before finding her way to English and discovering she loved editing. She talks about what drew her to the field, how living abroad shaped her interest in stories that don't usually get told, and why she sees an editor's job as protecting a writer's voice rather than smoothing it away.

The conversation feels timely for Nadia, who is heading into her own post grad questions soon. They talk about the job search, staying open instead of locking into one plan, and the side gigs and small steps that can carry someone through an uncertain stretch.

They also get into what it's like not really having one fixed home base anymore, since her parents are in Istanbul now and her sister is out in California. And they talk about the places that have actually stuck with her, Peru especially.

It's a grounded conversation about identity, ambition, and learning to trust that things will come together even when the path isn't clear yet.

Takeaways

• Growing up abroad complicated Lucy's sense of what it means to be American, and honestly, it's still not fully resolved
• Being undeclared wasn't a setback, it gave her the room to actually find the right path
• A good editor protects a writer's voice instead of replacing it
• Living in so many different countries shaped her interest in stories that usually don't get told
• Post-grad uncertainty gets a lot easier to sit with when you stay open instead of forcing a decision
• Once her family scattered across different countries, home stopped being one fixed place
• Peru is so much more than Machu Picchu
• Careers tend to start with curiosity, not certainty

Chapters

• 0:11 – 1:43 Meet Lucy and how she and Nadia met on their Dialogue of Civilizations trip in Spain
• 1:43 – 5:51 Lucy's childhood in Maryland, Ecuador, Peru and seven years in Johannesburg
• 5:51 – 8:54 Why Northeastern, choosing Boston over Santa Cruz and a co-op program she didn't even understand yet
• 8:54 – 11:46 Does Lucy feel American? Identity and belonging after growing up outside the US
• 11:46 – 16:00 From undeclared to English major, how Lucy found editing
• 16:00 – 19:21 What an editor actually does and why that matters in the age of AI
• 19:21 – 21:03 Amplifying voices that don't get heard, AAPI Month and using privilege well
• 21:03 – 24:22 Life after graduation, job hunting, side gigs and staying open
• 24:22 – 27:21 Where even is home now, parents in Istanbul, sister in Berkeley, lease ending in August
• 27:21 – 29:46 Lucy's favorite place she's lived, the case for Peru
• 29:46 – 30:50 Dream publications and wrapping up the interview

650.701.7686 (o)

650.332.2739 (f)

510.673.8712 (m)

Sports & Dance Rehab | Pilates | Group Classes

On the Move Physical Therapy

501-D Old County Rd.

Belmont, CA 94002

web - http://www.onthemovephysio.com

email - alyssa@onthemovephysio.com

IG - https://www.instagram.com/onthemovephysio