
English: 
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
Hi, everyone, thank you so much for coming.
We are Gabi and Danielle, and we're here to
talk about our experiences and our recommendations
for students who have experienced health changes,
challenges, and disabilities all of the above
while they're in graduate school. So we are
both currently grad students. I'm a fourth
year PhD candidate at MIT, and I study marine geology.
[Danielle Purtell ]
And I'm a third year medical student at Tulane
University down in New Orleans. And I hope
to go into primary care and focus on geriatric
patients.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
We actually met through Instagram, which I
think is sort of a fun fact, we had never
met in person before last night at one o'clock
in the morning. So it's really cool to be
here presenting together. And hopefully, you'll

English: 
(snare drum cadence)
- Hi everyone, thank
you so much for coming.
We are Gabi and Danielle.
And we're here to talk
about our experiences
and our recommendations for students
who have experienced
health changes, challenges,
and disabilities, all of the above,
while they're in graduate school.
So we are both currently grad students.
I'm a fourth year PhD candidate at MIT
and I study marine geology.
- And I'm a third year medical
student at Tulane University
down in New Orleans and I hope to go into
primary care and focus
on geriatric patients.
- We actually met through Instagram,
which I think is sort of a fun fact.
We had never met in
person before last night
at one o'clock in the morning.
So it's really cool to be
here presenting together.

English: 
And hopefully you'll see
that we're real friends
even we were only internet friends.
So this is a little bit more
about us and our background.
I personally identify as
Queer and Mexican American,
and that has shaped all my
experiences in higher education
as well as my now new
identity as a disabled person.
So I think that's important
to sort of put out there and start.
And we also have the same
connective tissue disorder,
which is part of why we're friends.
So we both have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome,
which is a tissue disorder, like I said,
that impacts all of the
collagen that we have.
It's the most common
protein in the human body.
That's what I read.
You can tell me if that's fake.
And so it affects every
body system that we have.
- So I'm a third year medical student.
I like to say I'm chronically chill,
to put a little more fun in the fact
that I am chronically
ill and now identifying
as a disabled individual.
In addition to our connective
tissue disorder that we share,

English: 
see that we're real friends, even though we
were only internet friends. So this is a little
bit more about us in our background. I personally
identify as queer and Mexican American, and
that has shaped all my experiences in higher
education, as well as my now new identity
as a disabled person. So I think that's important
to sort of put out there and start. And we
also have the same connective tissue disorder,
which is part of why we're friends. So we
both have others down low syndrome, which
is a tissue disorder, like I said, that is
that impacts all of the collagen that we have,
it's the most common protein in the human
body. That's what I read, you can tell me
if that's fake, okay. And so it, it affects
every body system that we have.
[Danielle Purtell ]
So I'm a third year medical student, I like
to say I'm chronically chill to put a little
more fun in the fact that I am chronically
ill, and now identifying as a disabled individual.
In addition to our connective tissue disorder

English: 
I have a form of autonomic dysfunction.
So your autonomic nervous
system kind of runs the,
I like to say, the automatic
stuff in your body.
And mine just doesn't want to work.
So I have issues with
temperature regulation.
If I stand for too long, I faint.
All sorts of good stuff like that.
I also have chronic daily migraine.
This current migraine that I have,
we're celebrating our 15
month anniversary coming up.
So with the light sensitivity
and all the things
that come with migraine,
it's been really interesting
being a future provider
and professional patient
at the same time.
- We're gonna ask you to tell us
a little bit about why you're here.
So if you could get out
your phone or laptop.
We're gonna go to this website:
www.menti M-E-N-T-I .com
Sorry that caption is wrong at the bottom.
So make you use the one that's on
the actual presentation screen.
And then you're gonna put in the code:

English: 
that we share, I have a form of autonomic
dysfunction. So your autonomic nervous system
kind of runs the I like to say automatic stuff
and your body. And mind just doesn't want
to work. So I have issues with temperature
regulation. If I stand for too long, I think
all sorts of good stuff like that. I also
have chronic daily migraine, this current
migraine I have, we're celebrating our 15
month anniversary coming up. So with the light
sensitivity, and all the things that come
with migraine, it's been really interesting.
Being a future provider and professional patient
at the same time,
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
we're going to ask you to tell us a little
bit about why you're here. So if you could
get out your phone or laptop, we're going
to go to this website, www men t m e n ti.com.
Sorry, that caption is wrong at the bottom.
So make sure you use the one that's on the
actual presentation screen, and then you're

English: 
going to put in the code for two 3094. And
if this is not accessible to you, you can
also send me an email and I'll just put it
into the system, or just let us know, flag
us down and we will put it in. But the two
questions that are going to come up are about
who you are, and then about what you're most
interested in getting out of this short session.
And while we're talking about what brought
you here, we want to acknowledge that we're
gathering on the traditional lands of for
indigenous nations. And this is the statement
that's provided by OSU. So if you want to
learn more about that, I encourage you to
look up OSU land acknowledgement. And there's
a whole lot more information there. So I'm
going to transition over to hopefully your
answers. Yeah, it's working. Again, the code
is still up here 42 3094. And so each.is one
person. So we have students who are in college,

English: 
4-2-3-0-9-4 and if this
is not accessible to you,
you can also send me an email
and I'll just put it into the system,
or just let us know, flag us
down, and we will put it in.
But the two questions that
are going to come up are
about who you are, and
then about what you're
most interested in getting
out of this short session.
And while we're talking
about what brought you here,
we want to acknowledge
that we're gathering on
the traditional lands of
four indigenous nations.
And this is the statement
that's provided by OSU.
So if you want to learn more about that,
I encourage you to look up
OSU land acknowledgement,
and there's a whole lot
more information there.
So I'm gonna transition over to,
hopefully your answers.
Yeah, it's working!
Again, the code the code
is still up here 42-30-94.
And so each dot is one person.
So we have students who
are in college, etc,

English: 
etc. and educator, all levels of education
administrators, parents, or caregivers, patient
advocate or self advocate, that's kind of
an insider term. So it sort of just means
someone who works to advocate on behalf of
all patients on behalf of themselves. Sometimes
disabled people can't have full time jobs
are don't have full time jobs. But the reality
is that just living our lives as a full time
job. So I like to include that as a role.
Researchers and other so those are kind of
the options we have up here. It looks like
from what has come up so far, most of us are
students and educators, with some admins and
other people around their patients parents,
which I appreciate, thank you to shout out
to the families, right? Thank you. I think
that'll let you keep going. So you can keep
adding more, which is great for our data.
We both love data. So please keep putting
those in. And the next one we're going to
ask is What are you most interested in learning

English: 
and educators who are at
all levels of education,
administrators, parents or caregivers,
patient advocate or self advocate.
That's kind of an insider term,
so it sort of just means
someone who works to
advocate on behalf of all
patients, on behalf of themselves.
Sometimes disabled people
can't have full time jobs
or don't have full time jobs,
but the reality is that
just living our lives
is a full time job.
So I like to include that as a role.
Researchers and other,
so those are kind of
the options we have up here.
It looks like from what
has come up so far,
most of us are students and educators,
with some admins and
other people around there,
patients, parents, which I appreciate.
Shout out to the families, right?
Thank you.
I think that I'll let you keep going
so you can keep adding more
which is great for our data.
We love data, so please
keep putting those in.
And the next one we're gonna ask is,
what are you most interested
in learning about?

English: 
about? And I believe the screen should be
let you slide them up and down so that you
can rank them. These are just a few of the
things that we know about. Mostly.
We could do marine geology and
family medicine, right?
Yeah, it's working. So you can see them popping
up here.
Where the sort of top priority so far, it's
kind of bubbling up to the top. This is great.
I'm glad we did this, because we weren't sure
exactly what the audience would be. So if
you are all disabled students, and we wanted
to just have event session, that would be
very different from if you're all interested
in resources and making schools more accessible.
So this is great. We have 24. And the last
one we had 26. So I'll give it another minute.

English: 
And I believe the screen should let you
slide them up and down so
that you can rank them.
These are just a few of the
things that we know about.
We could do marine geology
and family medicine, right?
Yea, it's working!
So you can see them popping up here,
where the sort of top priority so far,
kind of bubbling up to the top.
This is great; I'm glad we did this.
We weren't sure exactly
what the audience would be.
So if you were all disabled students
and we wanted to just have a vent session,
that would be very different from
if you were all interested in resources
and making schools more accessible.
So this is great.
We have 24, in the last one we had 26.
So I'll give it another minute,
but looks like the first priority

English: 
But looks like the first priority is learning
about making schools more accessible and resources
for students with disabilities, closely followed
by balancing health and academic success.
So that gives us a sense of who's in the room
and what we're interested in learning about.
Thank you for the data. If I can restart this,
okay, and you again, that'll stay open for
the rest of the talk. So you can still put
that in. And you should be able to also ask
us questions through there. Or you can just
ask us anytime. So I'll let Daniel take this
one. But what's the problem statement?
[Danielle Purtell ]
The problem is that, you know, we are high
aspiration and high drive individuals, we're
chasing down these big dreams and academia
and medicine, and a system that's just simply
not built for us. And we're able to do things
and we want to do things. But the standard
way of doing them as an accessible or even

English: 
is learning about making
schools more accessible
and resources for students
with disabilities.
Closely followed by balancing
health and academic success.
So that gives us a sense
of who's in the room
and what we're interested
in learning about.
Thank you for the data.
Okay, and again that will stay open
for the rest of the talk.
So you can still put that in,
and you should be able
to also ask us questions
through there, or you can
just ask us at any time.
So I'll let Danielle take this one.
What's the problem statement?
- The problem is that
we are high aspiration
and high drive individuals.
We're chasing down these big dreams
in academia and medicine in a system
that's just simply not built for us.
And we're able to do things,
and we want to do things,
but the standard way of doing them
is inaccessible or even impossible

English: 
for the bodies that we're in.
So we've spent a lot of
time kind of troubleshooting
and making mistakes
and learning from them,
educating people around us,
to try to be successful.
So I'll speak personally to my impact.
Medicine's hard; medical school is hard.
And when you're surrounded
by medical people,
if you bring up a single
medical condition you have,
you're immediately
bombarded with questions.
I'm in my OB/GYN rotation
and I had a gynecologist
insist I didn't have any of my
connective tissues disorder,
insist I didn't have my migraines,
acting like an expert
in a field that she was
completely not educated in,
cause they're very separate fields.
So it makes you isolated
and makes you feel alone.
There's a lot of sessions in school
that I simply can't go to,
some of the optional things,
I'm not feeling well enough.
I spend most of my study time
actually studying from home,

English: 
impossible for the bodies that we're in. So
we've spent a lot of time kind of troubleshooting,
and making mistakes and learning from them
and educating people around us to try to be
successful.
Unknown Speaker
So
[Danielle Purtell ]
I'll speak personally to my impact. Medicine,
medicines, hard medical schools hard and when
you're surrounded by a medical people, if
you bring up a single medical condition, you
have your immediately bombarded with questions
I had, I'm in my ob gyn rotation and I had
a gynecologist insists I didn't have any of
my connective tissue disorder insist I didn't
have my migraines acting like an expert in
a field that she was completely not educated
in, because they're very separate field. So
it makes you isolated makes you feel alone.
There's a lot of sessions in school that I
simply can't go to some of the optional things,
I'm not feeling well enough, I spend most

English: 
either in bed, on the couch, laying flat.
So there are opportunities
that I can't have,
and everyday it feels like
I have to rebuild the system
for how I can exist in the
medical education system.
- Yeah, if you even Google resources,
or sort of higher ed, chronic illness,
any wide range of those things,
you're not going to find a lot.
And so I feel like before
I found communities online
and some in person now,
people like Danielle,
I felt like I had to come up
with everything on my own.
And that was really, really difficult.
So having someone, even
if it's through Instagram
or Twitter or any other
digital communication,
Who can say yeah that's
happened to me, yeah I get it,
is super important.
But that's very difficult to find.
And the only way that we've
been able to find that
is by seeking it out ourselves.
We're highly capable, we think, we try,
but we also are highly
capable of doing research
and figuring out stuff on our own.

English: 
of my study time actually studying from home
either in bed on the couch laying flat. So
there are opportunities that I can't have.
And every day, it feels like I have to rebuild
the system for how I can exist in the medical
education system.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
If you even Google resources, or sort of higher
ed, chronic illness, any wide range of those
things, you're not going to find a lot. So
I feel like before I found communities online
and some in person now, people like Danielle,
I felt like I had to come up with everything
on my own. And that was really, really difficult.
So having someone even if it's through Instagram,
or Twitter or any other digital communication,
who can say yeah, that's happened to me, I
get it is super important. But that's very
difficult to find. And the only way that we've
been able to find that is, by seeking it out
ourselves are highly capable, we think we
try. But we also are highly capable of doing

English: 
But it doesn't really seem
to make the most sense
to do it that way.
So we're trying to come
up with a few lists
of resources here that
hopefully all of you can use.
And we just want to reiterate,
we're not asking for
graduate school to be easy.
We're not saying that school should be
especially easy for
people with disabilities
or that accessibility
would change the rigor
that we are undergoing,
that we're experiencing.
I think that's important to note
especially when we talk
about mental health.
A lot of the times people say,
well we can't be too soft on you.
This is just how it is.
And I think that that's crap, personally.
I think everyone should
try to be more kind.
But, I do want to make it very clear
that we are just saying that we think
that students with disabilities,
with health conditions,
with mental health conditions,
and we know that those
don't always overlap,
that we want those students to just
be able to make it through.
At the end of the day, if a student leaves
a graduate program that's a huge loss
to the student, to the
program, and to really

English: 
research and figuring out stuff on our own.
But it doesn't really seem to make the most
sense to do it that way. So we're trying to
come up with a few list of resources here
that hopefully all of you can use. And we
just want to reiterate, we're not asking for
graduate school to be easy. We're not saying
that school should be especially easy for
people with disabilities or that accessibility
would change the rigor that we are under,
under undergoing we're experiencing. I think
that's important to note, especially when
we talk about mental health, a lot of the
times people say, Well, we can't, can't be
too soft on you, this is just how it is. And
I think that that's crap. Personally, I think
everyone should try to be more kind. But I
do want to make it very clear that we are
just saying that we think that students with
disabilities with health conditions with mental
health conditions, and we know that those
don't always overlap, that we want those students
to just be able to make it through. At the
end of the day, if a student leaves the graduate

English: 
program, that's a huge loss to the student,
to the program and to really all the funders
who have helped make that happen. So both
for just like it is right that students with
disabilities should be able to have access
to an education. But if you want an economic
reason, it's very expensive to have someone
leave a program, especially a PhD that's been
fully funded. If I left now, that's four years,
and I don't even have a master's degree from
my program. So it'd be four years that the
National Science Foundation has put into me
that I would just be not having kind of returned
to the benefit of if that makes sense. which
I don't think is going to happen, I'm going
to make it through. But the problem is when
students leave, we don't have that kind of
return on investment that I think that they're
looking for.
This one, it makes me really mad. So I'm going
to start with Daniel.
[Danielle Purtell ]
It is illegal for the law to discriminate
against you because of your health. But take
for example with my dysautonomia, I have to

English: 
all of the funders who have
helped make that happen.
So both for just it is right that students
with disabilities should be able to have
access to an education, but if
you want an economic reason,
it's very expensive to have
someone leave a program,
especially a PhD that's been fully funded.
If I left now, that's four years.
And I don't even have a
masters degree from my program.
So that would be four years that
the National Science
Foundation has put into me,
that I would just be not
having returned the benefit of,
if that makes sense.
Which I don't think is going to happen.
I'm going to make it through,
but the problem is, when students leave,
we don't have that kind
of return on investment
that I think that they're looking for.
This one makes me really mad,
so I'm going to start with Danielle here.
- It is illegal, per
the law, to discriminate
against you because of your health.
But take for example,
with my dysautonomia,

English: 
I have to sit, I have to
do a lot of modifications
where I can't be on my
feet for a long time,
and in my upcoming surgery rotations
when I have to stand for 12 hour cases
and not contaminate a sterile
field by sitting down,
what does that look like?
So oftentimes people with chronic illness
go to the disability office and all they
help you with is testing accommodations.
So they'll let me wear my sunglasses
and they'll let me elevate my computer
on a little stand so
I'm not craning my neck,
but other than that, what
I'm facing on the wards,
all the interactions I'm
having with my educators
and doctors who are my teachers,
the difficulty of working in
a hospital in that capacity,
there's no help for that whatsoever.
- Yeah both of us I think have spent
quite some time even getting diagnosed.
So I spent two full
years just in the process
of getting a diagnosis.
I've had wide spread
chronic pain since 2015
and it took until late last
year to get a diagnosis.
So when I went to the
accommodations office,

English: 
sit I have to do lot of modifications where
I can't be on my feet for a long time. And
in my upcoming surgery rotations and I have
to stand for 12 hour cases and not contaminate
a sterile field by sitting down. What does
that look like? So oftentimes, people with
chronic illness go to the disability office
and all they help you with is testing accommodations.
So the let me wear my sunglasses and let me
elevate my computer on a little stance. I'm
not craning my neck. But other than that,
what I'm facing on the wards all the interactions
I'm having with my educators and the doctors
who are my teachers, and the the difficulty
of working in a hospital in that capacity.
There's no help for that whatsoever.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
Yeah, both of us, I think, have spent quite
some time we've been getting diagnosed. So
I spent two full years just in the process
of getting a diagnosis. I've had widespread
chronic pain since 2015. And it took until
late last year to get a diagnosis. So when
I went to the accommodations office, they

English: 
said, well, what's your diagnosis? And I was
like, what's the next question? Can we try
the next? What's the next thing you need to
ask? And they said, what accommodations do
you need? I was like, Well, I don't know.
That's why I'm here. Can you tell me what
you can do to help me I'm in pain, I'm struggling,
I can't get the amount of work done that I
want to get done. So what do you think I should
do? They sort of looked at me and we're like,
Well, most people who need to sit down, do
computer work, they don't really work in the
labs. And I was like, okay, MIT world renowned
research institution, that's the best you
can give me. And this guy was sort of like,
you know, if you needed, if you needed to
use the elevator, we could get you ID card
access for that. And I was like, this is the
best you could do, really. But these are both
phrases. What we have up here is it's illegal
to discriminate, and have you gone to the
disability office. Those are two things that
people say to us all the time when they find
out that we're struggling with these issues.

English: 
they said, well what's your diagnosis?
And I was like, what's the next question?
Can we try the next, what's
the next thing you'd ask me?
And they said, what
accommodations do you need?
And I was like, I don't
know that's why I'm here.
Can you tell me what
you can do to help me?
I'm in pain; I'm struggling.
I can't get the amount of work
done that I want to get done.
So what do you think I should do?
And they sort of looked
at me and were like,
well, most people who need
to sit down do computer work.
They don't really work in the labs.
And I was like, okay.
MIT, world renowned research institution,
that's the best you can give me?
And this guy was sort of like,
you know if you needed to use the elevator
we could get you ID card access for that.
And I was like, this is the
best you can do, really?
But these are both phrases,
what we have up here,
it's illegal to discriminate,
and have you gone to
the disability office.
Those are two things that
people say to us all the time
when they find out that we're struggling
with these issues.

English: 
And I think that it reveals
a level of misunderstanding
of kind of what that
experience looks like.
So I think that accommodation
offices are great.
I think every school should
have an accommodations office,
or a student disability
services coordinator.
But, that is only the very beginning.
And I hope that we can go way beyond
what is legally required for access.
We wanted to talk a little bit about
the challenges that come up specifically,
sort of like Danielle has said,
that you have to disclose
your migraine disorder.
They ask you way too
many questions about it.
- Yeah, not only do I have to disclose
exactly when I was diagnosed with what,
what my symptoms were,
but they want to know
every single medication
I'm on, the dosage,
what have I tried, what have I not tried.
For just my migraines
alone, I've tried at least
30 different medications.
So sitting there when I'm
trying to round on a patient
and bringing the attention
to me and talking about,
oh can I pull up this chair because,

English: 
And I think that it reveals a level of misunderstanding
of kind of what that experience looks like.
So I think that accommodations officer, great,
I think every school should have an accommodations
office or a Student Disability Services Coordinator.
But that is only the very beginning. And I
hope that we can go way beyond what is legally
required for access. We wanted to talk a little
bit about the challenges that come up specifically,
sort of like Danielle has said that you have
to disclose your migraine disorder, they asked
you way too many questions about it.
[Danielle Purtell ]
Not only do I have to disclose exactly when
I was diagnosed with what what my symptoms
were, but they want to know every single medication
I'm on the dosage what I have, like, what
have I tried, what have I not tried? Before
just my migraines alone, I've tried at least
30 different medications. So sitting there
when I'm trying to route on a patient and
you know, bring the attention to me and talking
about, Oh, can I pull up this chair because
oh, you need my medical chart like just for

English: 
oh you need my medical chart
just for me to do my job?
It's frustrating; it takes
away from the patient.
And it also makes me feel unsafe
in my learning environment
because every step I take,
and every move I make,
not to start quoting songs,
(laughing)
That just kinda came out.
I have to defend every
single choice I make
because the reality is
every decision I make
from when I get up in the morning,
how I fold my pillows
at night, what I eat,
what glasses I'm wearing, is dictated by
my chronic pain and my illnesses.
And not only do I have to
make those accommodations
for myself, but I have to fight to be able
to do them without shame.
So that's been very difficult.
- Yeah I bet this is one
of the first presentations
you've seen where people
are sitting down to do it.
And it's the first one I've done
where I'm sitting the whole time.
But we were both saying up here,
we're so much happier doing it this way.
So why don't we always present in a chair?
I can think more clearly.
We can see you all; we're
all at the same eye level.
So that's kinda nice.

English: 
me to do my job. It's It's frustrating. It
takes away from the patient. And it also makes
me feel unsafe in my learning environment.
Because every step I take, and every move
I make not to start quoting songs just kind
of came out, I have to defend that every single
choice I make. Because the reality is every
decision I make from when I get up in the
morning, how I like fold my pillows at night,
what I eat, what glasses I'm wearing is dictated
by my chronic pain and my illnesses. And not
only do I have to make those accommodations
for myself, but I have to fight to be able
to do them without shame. So that's been very
difficult.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
Yeah, I bet this is one of the first presentations
you've seen where people are sitting down
to do it. And it's the first one I've done
where I'm sitting the whole time. But we were
both saying up here, we're so much happier
doing it this way. So why don't we always
present in a chair, I can think more clearly
we can, you know, see you out the same level.
So that's kind of nice. There are benefits

English: 
There are benefits to doing it this way,
but this is not a legally
required accommodation.
Like I can ask for a chair,
but can I stand if I had to?
Yeah I guess so, but can
I do my job effectively
if I have to stand for 45 minutes?
No, so we've put up the
structure of collagen also here
because even though I
work in marine geology,
people end up with a lot of questions.
So I say I have this
connective tissue disorder,
and they say, how exactly does that work?
What does collagen even look like?
How prevalent is that?
How many people have this
disorder that you have?
And these are people
who are just so curious
and they are showing that they care
by asking these questions.
I recognize that and I appreciate it,
but I'm not a biochemist.
All I know is what I've done research on
and what my doctors have told
me, which is almost nothing.
So in case you were curious,
this is what collagen looks like.
It's a tri-helical structure
and it's pretty stretchy.
Ours is too stretchy.

English: 
to doing it this but this is not a legally
required accommodation. Like I asked for a
chair. But can I stand if I had to? Yeah,
I guess so. But can I do my job effectively?
If I have to stand for 45 minutes? No. So
we put up the structure of collagen also here
because I even though I work in marine geology,
people end up with a lot of questions. So
I say I have this connective tissue disorder
and they say, How exactly does that work?
You know, what does collagen even look like?
how prevalent is that? How many people have
this disorder that you have? And these are
people who are just so curious. And they are
showing that they care, because they're showing
that they care by asking these questions.
I recognize that and I appreciate it. But
I'm not a biochemist. All I know is what I've
done research on and what my doctors have
told me, which is almost nothing. So in case
you were curious, this is what collagen looks
like. It's a try helical structure. And it's

English: 
pretty stretching. Ours is too stretchy. It's
about all I got on ecology. And certainly,
we've tried the collagen peptides, by the
way, in case anyone's wondering, doesn't do
anything.
[Danielle Purtell ]
You can't like ingest something to fix what
your body is making, like our genes make our
collagen wrong. And so eating something isn't
gonna fix it. So I'm not buying your expensive
collagen peptides.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
We've been pretty, I guess negative so far.
But that's just the reality. So we did want
to talk a little bit about what has been good
and what we've gained out of our experiences
so far. So for me, this is one of my favorite
pictures. This is a picture of me climbing
out of a cave in northern Mexico during my
fieldwork. And this happened almost exactly
a year ago. So I had repelled down kind of
like superhero style where you feed the rope
through and you slide down. And then you have

English: 
That's about all I got on collagen.
(laughing)
We've tried the collagen
peptides by the way,
in case anyone's wondering.
It doesn't do anything.
- You can't like ingest something to fix
what your body is making.
Like our genes make our collagen wrong.
And so eating something
isn't gonna fix it.
So I'm not buying your
expensive collagen peptides.
(laughing)
- We've been pretty, I
guess negative so far.
But that's just the reality.
So we did want to talk a little bit about
what has been good and what we've gained
out of our experiences so far.
So for me, this is one
of my favorite pictures.
This is a picture of me climbing out
of a cave in northern
Mexico during my field work.
And this happened almost
exactly a year ago.
So I had repelled down, kind
of like superhero style,
where you feed the rope
through and you slide down.
And then you have to climb back up.

English: 
And I had to climb up
about 30 meters upwards.
So it was a long way up and I
just literally had no choice.
So I found kind of this happy place.
And I was like well, if I want to get out
of this freaking cave, then
this is what I have to do.
And my friend took this picture of me
and I keep it on my computer desktop
because when I'm having
a really high pain day,
or I'm having a really just
frustrating day with research,
I remember one time I
climbed out of a cave.
No matter how bad I felt,
I climbed out of that cave.
So I'm also great at squeezing into
very tight spaces in caves.
The cave guides had been
like, you're very flexible.
Your leg really, I don't
know how you got it
to fit in there but that's great.
And I'm like, it's fantastic really.
You should see what else it can do.
(laughing)
But those are sort of my
ways of trying to show
that there's benefits,
and keeping it light,
because that's the only way we can do it.
But Danielle has better things to say.

English: 
to climb back up. And I had to climb up about
30 meters upwards. So it was a long way up.
And I just literally had no choice. And so
I found kind of this happy place. And I was
like, Well, if I want to get out of this freaking
cave, then this is what I have to do. And
my friend took this picture of me and I keep
it on my computer desktop. Because when I'm
having a really high pain day, or I'm having
a really just frustrating day with research,
I remember one time I climbed out of a cave,
no matter how bad I felt, I climbed out of
that cave. So I am also great at squeezing
into very tight spaces and caves. The cave
guys have been like, you're very flexible,
like your leg. Really, I don't know how you
got it to fit in there. But that's great.
And I'm like, it's fantastic, really like
you should see what else I can do. But those
are sort of my my ways of trying to show that
there's benefits and keeping it light because
it's the only way we can do it. But Daniel
has better things,

English: 
[Danielle Purtell ]
different things. So I like to call myself
a professional patient and a future provider.
I've worked in health care for a long time
during college and my gap year I worked as
a home health aide and nursing homes as resident
care aides. So you know, I've also spent most
of this past year studying horizontal. And
I spent about half January studying for my
big first board Licensure Exam from a hospital
bed. I see my peers at school who are healthy
and able bodied in the worst thing they've
ever had is strep throat in the seventh grade,
trying to interact with patients get their
pain rating on a pain scale, trying to empathize
with that and trying to educate them when
they're in a very dark and scary place. And
they just can't connect and can't relate.
And it's it's not good for education. But
above all is not good for the patient. Because
if if your provider doesn't understand what
you're going through, or have the tools and
experience with which to empathize, no one's
benefiting from that situation. So I wouldn't

English: 
- There's just different things.
So I like to call myself
a professional patient
and future provider.
I've worked in healthcare for a long time.
During college and my gap year
I worked as a home health aide
and in nursing homes
as resident care aides.
I've also spent most of this
past year studying horizontal.
And I spent about half
of January studying for
my big first board licensure
exam from a hospital bed.
I see my peers at school who are healthy
and abled bodied and the
worst thing they've ever had
is strep throat in the seventh grade,
trying to interact with patients,
get their pain rating on a pain scale,
trying to empathize with them,
trying to education them when they're in
a very dark and scary place,
and they just can't
connect and can't relate.
And it's not good for
education, but above all
it's not good for the patient.
Because if your provider
doesn't understand
what you're going
through or have the tools
and experience with which to empathize,
no one's benefiting from that situation.

English: 
wish my experience upon anyone because chronic
pain is a very dark place. And chronic illness
is a very scary thing. But the fact that I've
been laying in those hospital beds, terrified
and unspeakable amounts of pain, I can relate
to my patients in that way. And I can actually
hold their hand and tell them what they need
to hear because I've been that person. So
I wouldn't say I'm thankful, but I'm learning
Unknown Speaker
it's a good way to put it.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
These are some examples of how we get through
the day, you might have noticed, we both have
backpacks with us when a more typical thing
to have might be like a dainty purse. But
our stuff doesn't fit an identity first. So
this is one picture of Danielle, that is all
the things you needed for one day, right for
Well, not even the things you can fit in your
hands because it didn't fit in your backpack,
Unknown Speaker
just for like eight hours
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
of the morning. So these are all things I'll
read out the list in cases anyone who can't
read it, but it says we need hydration, electrolytes,

English: 
So I wouldn't wish my
experience upon anyone
because chronic pain is a very dark place
and chronic illness is a very scary thing.
But the fact that I've been
laying in those hospital beds,
terrified and in
unspeakable amounts of pain,
I can relate to my patients in that way.
And I can actually hold their hand
and tell them what they need to hear,
because I've been that person.
So I wouldn't say I'm
thankful, but I'm learning.
- That's a good way to put it.
These are some examples of
how we get through the day.
You might have noticed we
both have backpacks with us,
when a more typical thing to have
might be a dainty purse.
But our stuff doesn't
fit in a dainty purse.
So this is one picture of Danielle
that is all the things you
needed for one day, right?
Well, not even, the things
you could fit in your hands
because they didn't fit in
your backpack for one day.
- This was just for like eight hours.
- So these are all things,
I'll read out the list
in case there's anyone who can't read it.
But it says, we need
hydration, electrolytes,

English: 
caffeine, snacks,
medications which include
pills, injections, and topicals, braces,
kinesio-therapy tape which is,
you know when the volleyball players play
and they have the tape
all over themselves?
It looks really cool.
It helps to keep out joints in place
because the ligaments don't
do it for us; love that.
We have supports we wear,
a TENS unit where it feels
better to be getting shocked
by an electrical current
than to just have nothing,
which is also fun.
Ice packs, heating pads, naps,
sunglasses, sitting down, wearing masks,
and way more things.
And again, a lot of these
things would not be considered
legally required accommodations.
They are things that we
pay for out of pocket.
And these are things that
we need on a daily basis
just to be able to do our jobs.
- Yeah so on this particular day
in this particular rotation,
I'd been working in the
labor and delivery unit.

English: 
caffeine, snacks, medications, which include
pills, injections, and topical braces, can
easier therapy tape, which is you know, in
the volleyball players play and they have
the tape all over themselves, it looks really
cool. It helps to keep our joints in place
because the ligaments do it don't do it for
us love that we have supports we were a 10s
unit where it feels better to be getting shocked
by an electrical current than to just have
nothing, which is also fun. ice packs, heating
pads, naps, sunglasses sitting down, wearing
masks, and way more things. And again, a lot
of these things would not be considered legally
required accommodations, they are things that
we pay for out of pocket. And these are things
that we need on a daily basis just to be able
to do our jobs.
[Danielle Purtell ]
So on this particular day in this particular
rotation I've been working with in the labor
and delivery unit. And so we have women after

English: 
And so we have women
after a vaginal birth,
or after a c-section.
We have all these little
bags you can fill with ice
and give the patient to
help ice things down,
cause childbirth is pretty
exciting, if you haven't seen it.
(laughing)
And I'm the girl filling up ice packs
and taking them back and
putting them on my head.
So patient facing I look like this.
My glasses are pink, and
that's really the only thing
that looks different about me.
And that's the thing
with invisible illness.
But the second I'm not patient facing,
I'm in the resident room or I'm
in one of the student rooms,
sunglasses on, I turn all the lights off,
I pull all the curtains, I have ice packs
on my head and any
other joint that's being
particularly grouchy that day.
None of that fits into
what the disability office
would say is an accommodation,
or even know about.
With my autonomic dysfunction,
I'm hypovolemic, which
means that I just don't have
enough fluid in my body.
And so it makes me particularly faint-y.
So drinking Gatorade or drinking Pedialyte
isn't just a fun post workout thing,

English: 
like a very vaginal birth or after a C section
we have all these little bags, you can fill
with ice and give the patient to help ice
things down because childbirth is pretty exciting
if you haven't seen it. And I'm the girl filling
up ice packs and taking them back and putting
them on my head. So patient facing I look
like this, you know, my glasses are pink.
And that's really the only thing that looks
different about me. And that's the thing with
invisible illness. But the second I'm not
patient facing I'm in the resident room or
I'm in one of the student rooms, sunglasses
on, I turn all the lights off, I pull all
the curtains, I have ice packs on my head
and any other joint that's being particularly
grouchy that day. And none of that fits into
what the disability office would say, is an
accommodation or even even though about her
with my autonomic dysfunction, I'm hypoglycemic,
which means that I just don't have enough
fluid in my body. And so it makes me particularly
faint d. So, you know, drinking Gatorade or
drinking Pedialyte isn't just a fun post workout

English: 
thing. It's so that I don't faint every time
I stand. And so taking breaks to drink seems
so silly. When you're asking a really mean
attending, I need to go drink something, they
think you're just trying to get out of whatever
clinical duties you have that day when the
reality is, I'm going down this patient like
I will actually collapse onto your sterile
field, I don't go do this.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
We wanted to talk specifically as a case study,
because we're throwing a lot of symptoms at
you. And we know it's probably a little overwhelming.
It's overwhelming for us too. But we wanted
to talk specifically about cognitive dysfunction,
or it's also called brain fog. There's a lot
of different names for it. But this is when
we have temporary changes in our ability to
think clearly, we experienced this differently.
But for me, I have a hard time reading when
I'm in really bad shape. I have a hard time
grocery shopping, I get really overwhelmed
with all of the lights and sounds. So I have

English: 
it's so I don't faint
every time I stand up.
And so taking breaks
to drink seems so silly
when you're asking a
really mean attending,
I need to go drink something.
They think you're just
trying to get out of
whatever clinical duties
you have that day.
When the reality is, I'm
going down on this patient.
Like I will actually collapse
onto your sterile field
if I don't go do this.
- We wanted to talk
specifically as a case study,
because we're throwing
a lot of symptoms at you
and we know it's probably
a little overwhelming.
It's overwhelming for us too.
But we wanted to talk specifically about
cognitive dysfunction or
it's also called brain fog.
There's a lot of different names for it.
But this is when we have temporary changes
in our ability to think clearly.
We experience this differently.
But for me, I have a hard time reading
when I'm in really bad shape.
I have a hard time grocery shopping.
I get really overwhelmed with
all the lights and sounds.

English: 
to have a paper lyst I can't look for more
than two items at a time. Because if I try
to look for three, I can't remember the first.
And so it becomes an even longer process.
I haven't grocery shopping alone in two years,
because of this cognitive load. So even beyond
the pain, that different difficult amount
of it's even happening now of trying to think
clearly and speak eloquently, when that's
something that's so important as academics
is very challenging. And I think it's something
that I'm one of the things I'm most self conscious
about is that I would be presenting or talking
to potential postdoc advisor, and that I would
just sound so in eloquent. Like I don't know
what I'm talking about, because I can't remember
the name of the cave that I went to or what
an acronym stands for. And it's temporary,
but it's very scary and very frustrating.
[Danielle Purtell ]
I had an instance other day where I was having

English: 
So I have to have a paper
list and I can't look
for more than two items at a time.
Because if I try to look for three,
I can't remember the first two.
(laughing)
And so it becomes an even longer process.
I haven't grocery shopped
alone in two years
because of this cognitive load.
So even beyond the pain,
that difficult amount of,
it's even happening now,
of trying to think clearly
and speak eloquently,
when that's something that's
so important as academics,
is very challenging.
And I think it's something that I'm,
one of the things I'm
most self conscious about
is that I would be
presenting or talking to
a potential post-doc advisor,
and that I would just sound so ineloquent,
like I don't know what I'm talking about
because I can't remember
the name of the cave
that I went to, or what
an acronym stands for.
And it's temporary, but it's very scary
and very frustrating.

English: 
word finding difficulties, and I forgot the
word uterus. So I said baby house. And because
it's right. And and thankfully, I'm able to
hide behind humor like that, because that
comes off as very funny as if I'm trying to
make a joke. And I'm lucky in that regard
where my next best guess at the word is often
kind of humorous, but it is. It's scary. And
it's frustrating because we are intelligent
and we are capable. And sometimes our brains
just fall out of our noses and we can remember
our words. Something with my migraines was
that I'll have transit episodes of aphasia,
where I just can't talk whatsoever or I'll
choke over words I get stuck on syllables.
I won't even remember words can't read can't
write. And it's hard when you're presenting
to a resident or an attendings. What presenting
is is, let's say I have a woman who is halfway
through her pregnancy, she comes into the

English: 
- I had an instance the
other day where I was having
word finding difficulties
and I forgot the word uterus.
So I said baby house.
(laughing)
It's right!
And thankfully I'm able to
hide behind humor like that,
because that comes off as very funny,
as if I'm trying to make a joke.
And I'm lucky in that regard,
where my next best guess
at the word is often kind of humorous.
But it's scary and it's frustrating
because we are intelligent
and we are capable,
and sometimes our brains
just fall out of our noses
and we can't remember our words.
Something with my
migraines is that I'll have
transient episodes of aphasia
where I just can't talk whatsoever,
or I'll choke over words,
get stuck on syllables.
I won't even remember words,
can't read, can't write.
And it's hard when you're presenting
to a resident or an attending.
What presenting is, is
let's say I have a woman
who's halfway through her pregnancy.

English: 
emergency room for some heavy bleeding, and
she's worried about preterm labor. So as a
student, I'm the first person who sees her,
I have to take her her history of present
illness. So figure out why she's here. When
it started, what gets makes it better, what
makes it worse, I have to go through every
pregnancy she's had, how big the baby was,
what week it was delivered, male or female,
any complications, get her entire medical
history got all of her medications, her family
medical history, and then like head to toe
any other thing that's going wrong. And I
have to remember all of that every single
thing that woman told me basically her entire
life story and a lot of medications that sound
like alphabet soup, and go back and give it
to my resident or at attending and like a
32nd rapid fire presentation where you're
giving them everything they need to know about
the patient. And they want you to do it without
paper. That's how you excel. As a student.
That's how you get the highest evaluations
from the residents attendings is you can remember

English: 
She comes into the emergency
room for some heavy bleeding
and she's worried about pre term labor.
So as a student I'm the
first person who sees her.
I have to take her history
of present illness.
So figure out why she's
here, when it started,
what makes it better, what makes it worse.
I have to go through
every pregnancy she's had.
How the big the baby was,
what week it was delivered,
male or female, any complications.
Get her entire medical history.
Get all of her medications,
her family medical history.
And then like head to toe any other thing
that's going wrong.
And I have to remember all of that,
every single thing that woman told me,
basically her entire life
story and a lot of medications
that sound like alphabet soup,
and go back and give it to
my resident or attending
in like a 30 second
rapid fire presentation
where you're giving them everything
they need to know about the patient.
And they want you to do it without paper.
That's how you excel as a student.
That's how you get the highest evaluations
from the residents and attendings,
is you can remember all those things,

English: 
all those things, someone's entire life story
and medical history without having written
a single thing down. Like if they're on 15
different medications for their blood pressure.
I've know every single med and the dosage.
And if it's two times a day, three times a
day. And when I'm having episodes of aphasia,
like I can't say my own name, let alone all
those things. So we have Up next we have some
some ways on how we deal with that. And this
is an actual interaction we had on Instagram
couple of weeks ago, we're commiserating over
the fact that sometimes we just can't read.
And it's a bummer. So what I do the most is
that even though it might look sub optimal
in front of my team, who's evaluating me,
all right, every single thing down because
if they want a good presentation out of me,
and I do give excellent presentations, I have
to write things down. And the unfortunate
thing is, I often have to disclose the fact
that I have a lot of chronic medical issues,
and that I do have episodes of transit and
aphasia. It's not fun to have to run through

English: 
someone's entire life
story and medical history,
without having written
a single thing down.
Like if they're on 15
different medications
for their blood pressure, I
have to know every single med,
and the dosage, and if
it's two times a day,
three times a day.
And when I'm having episodes of aphasia,
I can't say my own name
let alone all those things.
So we have, up next we have some ways
on how we deal with that.
This is an actually interaction we had
on Instagram a couple weeks ago.
We were commiserating over the fact that
sometimes we just can't
read, and it's a bummer.
So what I do the most, is that even though
it might look suboptimal
in front of my team
who's evaluating me, I'll
write every single thing down.
Because if they want a good
presentation out of me,
and I do give excellent presentations,
I have to write things down.
And the unfortunate thing is,
I often have to disclose the fact that
I have a lot of chronic medical issues
and that I do have episodes
of transient aphasia.
It's not fun to have to
run through your trauma
and your medical history
every time you have to

English: 
your trauma and your medical history every
time you have to tell them someone's something
important. But that's just how I've been coping
with it. So a lot of writing, relying on humor,
like the baby house, I'm making my team very
aware of what's going on. So I like to be
very loud with my classmates so that not only
do they know what's going on, we can work
better as a team together, but I'm helping
create doctors who are more understanding
of these conditions. And understanding what
it is invisible illness looks like. So those
are that's how I try to deal with this. It's
it's hard, though I do look kind of dumb sometimes.
But thankfully, it hasn't happened in like
a huge emergency yet, not gonna let
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
I personally have dealt with similar issues
by making sure that my friends and especially
my fiance know that it's okay with me if they
finish my sentence. So if I can't find the
word, I tell them, please, please say the
word like it. Sometimes they're trying to
be nice, and they let me struggle. And there
are some people who might prefer that. And
I totally understand that too. There's some

English: 
tell someone something important.
But that's just how I've
been coping with it.
So a lot of writing, relying
on humor like the baby house,
making my team very
aware of what's going on.
So I like to be very
loud with my classmates
so that not only do they
know what's going on,
we can work better as a team together.
I'm helping creating doctors who are
more understanding of these conditions,
and understanding what
invisible illness looks like.
So that's how I try to deal with this.
It's hard, though.
I do look kinda dumb sometimes,
but thankfully it hasn't
happened in a huge emergency yet.
Knock on wood.
- I personally have
dealt with similar issues
by making sure that my friends
and especially my fiance
know that it's okay with me
if they finish my sentence.
So if I can't find the word, I tell them,
please say the word.
Sometimes they're trying to be nice
and they let me struggle.
And there are some people
who might prefer that,
and I totally understand that too.
There's some research that says that

English: 
research that says that you're supposed to
provide the word the person supposed to repeat
it. And then you say the whole sentence again.
But it takes a long time when you can't think
of baby house words and things like that.
So my friends do complete my sentences. And
it's helpful because then I can just move
on. I also like Danielle, put my feet up,
try different physical possession for both
of us. The blood stays by our toes, our feet.
And so it doesn't go enough to our brain.
And that's part of the reason why we don't
can't think straight, your brain is literally
not being I don't know, volley. Thank you,
for pr, pr for fusion, feel like I'm in Grey's
Anatomy. Yeah, thank you. And so those are
just a few of our ideas. We're not sure if
any of you need that advice. But these are
just a couple ideas that you might not think
of. and things that again, are not really

English: 
you're supposed to provide the word,
the person is supposed to repeat it,
and then you say the whole sentence again.
But that takes a long time
when you can't think of
baby house words and things like that.
So my friends do complete my sentences
and it's helpful because
then I can just move on.
I also, like Danielle, put my feet up.
Try different physical positions.
For both of us, the blood
stays by our toes, our feet,
and so it doesn't go enough to our brain.
And that's part of the reason
why we can't think straight.
Your brain is literally
not being, I don't know.
- Profused
- Thank you!
- It's not getting the blood flow.
- Full profusion, I feel
like I'm on Gray's Anatomy.
Yeah, thank you.
And so those are just a few of our ideas.
We're not sure if any
of you need that advice,
but these are just a couple ideas
that you might not think of,
and things that again, are
not really accommodations,
but things that we need.

English: 
accommodations, but things that we need. And
brain fog is actually really common across
a wide range of disabilities health conditions.
There's some health conditions that say that
there's like a 90% prevalence of patients
who have brain fog along with all the rest
of their symptoms, its president. Sometimes
I've heard about people who are hard of hearing
or death after doing a long day of lip reading,
or of watching kind of five things at once.
Having that cognitive overload and those types
of things. So these are just a few ways to
deal with it. And hopefully make you all aware
that that's something that does happen. And
we're not even going into the fact that there
are people with more permanent cognitive dysfunction
or learning disabilities who have these problems
all the time. And we're not trying to say
that they don't belong in science, either.
It's just been our experience that we very
suddenly had to start dealing with this. We've
never been taught strategies to deal with

English: 
And brain fog is actually really common
across a wide range of
disabilities, health conditions.
There's some health
conditions that say that
there's like a 90% prevalence
of patients who have
brain fog along with all
the rest of their symptoms.
Sometimes I've heard about people who are
hard of hearing or deaf,
after doing a long day
of lip reading or of watching
kinda five things at once,
having that cognitive overload
and those types of things.
So these are just a few
ways to deal with it,
and hopefully make you all aware that
that's something that does happen.
And we're not even
going into the fact that
there are people with more
permanent cognitive dysfunction,
or leaning disabilities,
who have these problems all the time.
And we're not trying
to say that they don't
belong in science either.
It's just been our experience
that we very suddenly
had to start dealing with this.
We've never been taught
strategies to deal with it before.

English: 
And so we wanted to share a
little bit about that also.
Now we're interested in hearing from you.
We're hoping that you
will turn to a partner
and talk a little bit about,
either from your own
experience what are the
significant challenges you faced
because of your disability,
health, neurodiversity,
or other experiences.
And if that's not an
experience you've had,
you can talk about friends,
family, or just listen.
If you're paired up with a person
who does have those
experiences, try to listen.
And what would help
you be more successful?
And again, I know we
have some administrators
and educators in the room.
So what strategies have you used to make
your school and classroom more accessible
for people with long term
illness or disabilities?
We're going to give you four minutes,
and then you're going
to have to report back.
Thank you, go.
(audience chatter)

English: 
it before. And so we wanted to share little
bit about that also. Now we're interested
in hearing from you, we're hoping that you
will turn to a partner and talk a little bit
about either from your own experience, what
are the significant health challenges, significant
challenges you face because of your disability,
health, neuro diversity or other experiences?
And if that's not an experience you've had,
you could talk about friends family, or just
listen, you know, if you're paired up with
a person who does have those experiences,
try to listen and what would help you be more
successful? And again, I know we have some
administrators and educators in the room so
what strategies have you used to make your
school and classroom more accessible for people
with long term illness or disabilities? We're
going to give you four minutes and then you're
going to have to report back
thank you go
Unknown Speaker
Yes, please do so

English: 
Unknown Speaker
wondering where's the grandpa?
Unknown Speaker
What baby house
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
the door
Unknown Speaker
I mean, that's true then the works like the
placenta is also kind of the baby house was
also
Unknown Speaker
like the
Unknown Speaker
baby containers. Yeah, like a baby you know?
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, I'm people shop.
Unknown Speaker
I don't want to make the scores but I want
to be eds. I have

English: 
[Danielle Purtell ]
someone come on, take your shoulder out.
Unknown Speaker
For us, smaller, raise your hand and see their
elbow like a hybrid. So let's do everyone
and let's do a full 2017
Unknown Speaker
for to do a whole like bait and scale.
Unknown Speaker
Interactive Are you can't see my dental crowding
anymore. But I like 
I showed my ETFs Docker pictures back before
I got a bunch of people
Unknown Speaker
like all rearrange. It was like, What the
hell?
Unknown Speaker
I've been coming in and Rose, my actual heart
was pretty rad. And the smile for a long time.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
been it's been three minutes?
Unknown Speaker
No, two years.
Unknown Speaker
You know, we're not just hitting them over
the head with, it seems like people are getting
it. Yeah, I haven't seen as you're nodding
your
Unknown Speaker
hand gestures.

English: 
Unknown Speaker
I will show you take her home or share stage.
Unknown Speaker
Whenever I need some support, I like I

English: 
- All right guys, I love how
much conversation we're hearing
It makes me so happy.
We're gonna bring it back.

English: 
Unknown Speaker
like the music
[Danielle Purtell ]
migraines. This is June. So we were like,
excuse me, I was going to have like a, like,
one year anniversary with it. And like really,
you know, go a party. And I'm like, I don't
know, I'm miserable. And it was like, right
before I took stuff. So it was like, I guess
I started 100 hours.
Unknown Speaker
In three minutes.
Unknown Speaker
Non singing, I know.
[Danielle Purtell ]
Alright, guys, I love how much conversation

English: 
Thank you so much.
We'd love to hear if anyone
is comfortable sharing
either what they learned
or their own experience,
giving us a brief little blurb
of what you've been facing,
or if you don't want
to share that that's okay,
but how you can be successful
and you found help.
(audience member speaking)

English: 
we're hearing, it makes me so happy. We're
gonna bring it back.
Thank you so much. We'd love to hear if anyone
is comfortable sharing what either what they
learned or their own experience, you know,
giving us a brief little blurb of of what
you've been facing. Or if you don't want us
okay about how you can be successful and how
you found help.
Unknown Speaker
Or your strategy.
Unknown Speaker
I'm so like, sitting down in green faces,
I feel like
Unknown Speaker
I'm just like, hey, integration services,
Unknown Speaker
bringing your work or just like, I don't know,
just being like, Oh, look at this thing on
the bottom shelf. Or like, I'm just kind of
finally starting to like, I got a team like,
Oh, I'm just you know, sitting down some really,
Unknown Speaker
really good

English: 
Unknown Speaker
friends with.
[Danielle Purtell ]
Yeah, I have that own thing. We're all sitting
grocery stores, I'll even like lay down in
the hospital where I can find a clean floor.
And when I find a clean floor close enough.
I'm thankful I don't have any, like immune
system deficiencies. And, you know, either
finding humor, letting people know or finding
some sort of distraction, so you don't feel
self conscious. Definitely.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
Sorry, just to summarize, in case you couldn't
hear the person who shared more seat sitting
in places all the time bringing a book so
it looks like it's casual. And telling your
team and friends said a good summary. Okay?
Who would like more benches and chairs and
grocery stores? Exactly. So if anyone knows
people in high places at Star market, I'd
love to talk. That's my grocery show. Anyone

English: 
Yeah I have that thing where
I'll sit in grocery stores,
I'll even lay down in the hospital
where I can find a clean floor,
(laughing)
when I find a clean floor.
Close enough, thankfully I don't have any
immune system deficiencies.
And either finding humor,
letting people know or finding
some sort of distraction
so you don't feel self
conscious, definitely.
- Just to summarize in
case you couldn't hear
the person who shared, more
sitting in places all the time,
bringing a book so it
looks like it's casual,
and telling your team and friends.
Is that a good summary?
Who would like more benches
and chairs in grocery stores?
Exactly!
(laughing)
So if anyone knows people in high places
at Star Market, I'd love to talk.
That's my grocery store.
Anyone else want to
share either challenges

English: 
or potential success strategies?
(audience member speaking)

English: 
else want to share either challenges or potential
success? strategies.
Unknown Speaker
It's extremely overwhelming, the lights are
blasting, the music is loud, it smells like
perfume. So during triggering for me,
Unknown Speaker
I used to be so conscious when I was inside.
Unknown Speaker
But now just like
Unknown Speaker
store, so mostly
Unknown Speaker
sitting down on the bus, even though we're

English: 
all there.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
That's awesome. Again, to summarize, there
was so much it was so forth terrible.
I mean, there are benefits, but so far as
a difficult store to navigate. You got to
own it. And it's challenging, especially as
young people, I definitely get dirty looks
when someone older comes on to the bus and
I stay sitting. So I guess those assumptions
can be really hard. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker
I think that's a big part of it is
Unknown Speaker
the worst?
Unknown Speaker
will try to explain it if they don't have
it, before it happens.
Unknown Speaker
So, so I

English: 
That's awesome.
Again to summarize, that was so much.
Sephora's terrible.
(laughing)
I mean there are benefits,
but Sephora's a difficult
store to navigate.
You gotta own it, and it's challenging.
Especially as young people,
I definitely get dirty looks
when someone older comes onto the bus
and I stay sitting.
I guess those assumptions
can be really hard.
(audience member speaking)

English: 
Unknown Speaker
class in empathy, when my daughter told me
that I'm like, What? Are you kidding me? You
know, because we go through a sort of difficulty
in how can
[Danielle Purtell ]
I, you know, the, I'm sure you've all met
doctors who just don't have that inherent
empathy and that I can't fix. And that's frustrating.
But I will say that one, we do have education
on how to relate to patients how to be empathetic,
we have a lot of trainings, working with standardized
patients and actual patients, working on those
communication skills, active listening. And
just being a good person, we have an entire

English: 
- Yeah so I,
(audience member speaking)
I'm sure you've all met
doctors who just don't have
that inherent empathy
and that I can't fix.
And that's frustrating.
But I will say that one,
we do have education
on how to relate to patients,
how to be empathetic.
We have a lot of trainings working with
standardized patients and actual patients,
working on those communication skills,
actively listening, and
just being a good person.

English: 
course called from foundations and medicine
where we spend our two preclinical years having
a lot of lectures. And we also can take additional
electives on that. I also have a lot of faith
in the upcoming generation of doctors, if
you guys aren't aware, my generation is called
snowflakes. And we are very socially aware
with social justice. We we take people's voices
seriously, we get up in arms about things
that historically people haven't talked about
or thought about. And while it can come across
as overly sensitive to certain people who
don't understand those people are becoming
doctors, and those people are going to be
taking care of us in the future. So I have
a lot of faith in this generation of my cohort.
Yes.
Unknown Speaker
So I did the loss of life type in type. One
type are the kids who don't make any incentive
start at a young age. And I create a lot of

English: 
We have an entire course
called Foundations in Medicine
where we spend our two preclinical years
having a lot of lectures
and we also can take
additional electives on that.
I also have a lot of faith in the upcoming
generation of doctors.
If you guys aren't aware, my
generation's called Snowflakes
and we are very socially
aware with social justice.
We take people's voices seriously.
We get up in arms about things
that historically people
haven't talked about
or thought about.
And while it can come
across as overly sensitive
to certain people who don't understand,
those people are becoming doctors.
And those people are going to be
taking care of us in the future.
So I have a lot of faith in
this generation of my cohorts.
(audience member speaking)

English: 
those patients. And I have to say to them,
I tell them all the time, you have to be your
own advocate. Like the I mean diseases you
have described, that's not a common disease.
Someone says, I have diabetes, all the doctors
come. I mean connective tissue disorders,
or migraines. Those are not the things all
the doctors know, ob gynecologist, ophthalmologist,
they won't have any idea of what you have.
So you have to be your own equity. And I'm
really happy you are doing that. I'm really
impressed that you're raising that awareness,
but to expect from strangers that they will
be trying to do you.
Unknown Speaker
Definitely and we don't we don't expect

English: 
Definitely, and we don't expect,

English: 
[Danielle Purtell ]
Thank you. Yeah, I, I want to be a family
med doc. And I know that you know, you know
little bit about everything. You don't know
everything about everything and medicine in
general. And so when I go to the doctor, especially
a new one, who I don't expect to know about
rare conditions or weird are things like chronic
migraine, I print out all the resources possible.
I give them like bullet point summaries because
as someone with a rare illness, you have to
educate your doctors, and some doctors don't
want to hear it. But hopefully you find the
ones that do. And you know, it's it's a lot
of work, but it pays off in the end because
you're getting better care for sure.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
Other questions? We have like two minute,
so any other questions you want to share?
or comments? Okay.

English: 
(audience member speaking)
Thank you, I want to be a family med doc
and I know that, you know a
little bit about everything.
You don't know everything
about everything,
in medicine in general.
So when I got to the doctor,
especially a new one,
who I don't expect to
know about rare conditions
or weirder things like chronic migraines,
I print out all the resources possible.
I give them like bullet point summaries
because as someone with a rare illness,
you have to educate your doctors.
And some doctors don't want to hear it,
but hopefully you find the ones that do.
And it's a lot of work,
but it pays off in the end
because you'll be getting better care.
- Any other question?
We have like two minutes.
So any other questions you
want to share, or comments.

English: 
Okay, so if you want to
reach out to either of us,
we are on our phones probably
too much, when we can read.
But we do have Instgrams
and Twitters up here
and we're happy to take
questions or comments.
And we have a lot of people who say,
can I tell my friend that you have this?
My friend has the same thing.
I think she'd love to talk to you.
Yes, happy to talk, so
feel free to do that.
And we have a list of
resources in this direction,
a couple of links to other things.
So I'll leave this up
also, but thank you so much
for coming and for listening to our rant,
our musings, on chronic
illness in grad school.
Thank you.
(applause)

English: 
Unknown Speaker
If you want to reach out to either of us,
we are on our phones probably too much when
we can read.
[Gabriela Serrato Marks ]
But we do have Instagrams and Twitter's up
here. And we're happy to take questions or
comments. And we have a lot of people who
say can I tell my friend that? You know you
have this My friend has the same thing. I
think she'd love to talk to you. Yes, happy
to talk. So feel free to do that. And we have
a list of resources in this direction. A couple
of links to other things, so I'll leave this
up also. But thank you so much for coming
and for listening to our ramped our musings
on chronic illness and grad school. Thank
you
Is the resources for everyone. So just go
like this? Yeah, I think
Unknown Speaker
it's me

English: 
Unknown Speaker
in a cave in scrubs. Okay.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
