Developing empathetic medical leaders of the future

“I am sure she must have crossed paths with many of my relatives who were also sent to Gila River,” Amy says.

“I often think about what I would say to Dr. Ichioka if I could have met her. She feels like a family member — someone I would hope to be if I had been born two generations earlier. I would like to thank her for taking the burden of being the first in a continuing line of Japanese American women and women of color at this school. I would also thank her for looking ahead to women like me who would follow an easier path without financial burdens because of her.”

Amy will be pursuing a residency in family medicine at the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in the coming year.