Meet Larry Yang
Saint Louis University School of Medicine Alumnus
Patients come from all backgrounds. Doctors should too, says Larry Yang (MED '24).
But in medical schools and the medical field, diversity is not always well represented, often due to cost as a barrier to entry, said Yang, a fourth-year medical student at Saint Louis University and recipient of the Mr. and Mrs. Roland Pattillo Endowed Scholarship.
“We all know that medical school is very expensive, so things such as scholarships and lowering tuition can really help promote that diversity and ultimately improve patient care,” he said.
The Pattillo Endowed Scholarship is named for the late Roland Pattillo, M.D., a Saint Louis University School of Medicine graduate best known for his advocacy for Henrietta Lacks, whose cervical cancer was the origin of the “immortal” HeLa cell line. Pattillo, an oncologist, stem cell researcher and former professor emeritus at Morehouse School of Medicine, established the scholarship with his wife in 2009.
Choosing SLU
Yang, who recently matched at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for his residency, said he chose SLU to pursue his M.D. for two reasons: The School of Medicine’s holistic curriculum approach and its culture.
Not only are students able to see patients early on in their medical education, allowing them to develop a longitudinal experience, but SLU has become well known for its approach to wellness for its MDs in training, he said.
“I was definitely surprised when I was able to see my first patient in the first week of medical school,” he said. “It really set the stage for what I learned in class. It's one thing to learn about questions and pathways and lectures, but another thing to understand that this is all done for the patient at the end of the day.”
Saint Louis University's location and relationships within the City of St. Louis have been other differentiating factors, allowing Yang to work with a patient population that includes those without access to health insurance and veteran populations.
Impact of Financial Support
Those experiences — and the financial support Yang received — changed his career trajectory. Although he first came to SLU thinking he would go into radiology, being able to talk to patients and getting to know them during his internal medicine rotation shifted his plans to internal medicine, with hopes to someday work in cardiology and in an academic setting, training the next generation of doctors.
“I think scholarships have really impacted the way that I thought about where I go for residency and what specialty I pursue,” he said. “Unfortunately, for a lot of students, when they're thinking about specialties, finances are also a part of that consideration. Some residencies and specialties are quicker to [complete] than others, and, because of that, some people might be more inclined to pursue a specialty that maybe they're not interested in as much, but they know will help pay the bills.”
Leading with Heart
Before he started applying to medical school, Yang himself crunched the numbers in a spreadsheet. Considering the rising costs of tuition, the lost earning potential of not going directly into the workforce after getting his undergraduate degree and other factors, he came to one conclusion: becoming a doctor does not always make financial sense.
Instead, it is something that has to come from the heart.
“It sounds a little cliche, but it's absolutely true that people in this profession aren't here for money,” said Yang. “They're here to really practice the art and science of medicine.”
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