University of Massachusetts - Amherst
We loved catching up with Marisa Da Costa, the very first undergraduate Research Assistant (RA) in the Quality for All Lab, who spent three of her undergrad years as an RA and then joined as a staff member during a gap year before medical school. Marisa won the prestigious Rising Researcher Award in 2022 while working with the lab. Four years later, Marisa reflected on her time during and after the lab in a conversation with Q4A Project Manager Erin DeCou.
Marisa is now in her final year at UMass Chan Medical School, and after a journey through clinical rotations that included a bit of an "identity crisis" (her words!) about leaving her long-planned path toward OB/GYN, she's found her calling in radiology, with a focus on breast imaging. Radiology drew Marisa in for several reasons, including the mix of hands-on procedures, patient interaction, and what she calls being a "clinical detective.” Fittingly, it was a mentor in the field who helped her see the path clearly, something Marisa says echoed her own experience finding a mentor in Dr. Goff during her undergrad years.
Looking back on her time in the lab, Marisa points to two lasting gifts: a love of mentorship (she now pays it forward through peer mentoring programs for pre-meds) and interviewing skills that turned out to be directly transferable to how she talks with patients today. She also remembers the lab fondly as a tight-knit community. “It just felt like such a family,” she said. “The first get-together at Dr. Goff's house, the end-of-year get-together, and just having such a positive group dynamic....having this common goal, working on the projects together; also, I think, having really similar personalities and interests, and it was just such a warm and inviting place.”
Marisa is applying to residency programs this fall and is hoping to stay close to home in New England. Read on for highlights from conversation (edited for clarity and length).
Erin: Tell us a little bit about what you're doing now, and what you've been doing since you left the lab.
Marisa: I'm currently in my fourth and last year of medical school. I recently finished doing all of my third-year clinical rotations and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, which was quite the process. And now fourth year is kind of all about homing in on electives within the specialty that I'm planning to apply to, and preparing residency applications, which are due this fall in September.
I've decided that I'm going into radiology, which is very surreal. I never thought I would ever say that. But I'm going through those electives right now, and I'm really enjoying them, and just writing my personal statement and getting all the application stuff ready.
Erin: Tell me a little bit about radiology and how you came to that decision, because it sounds like you've spent a lot of time in the last months and years thinking about this. How did you arrive there?
Marisa: I always thought that I was going to be an OBGYN going into med school. Ever since I wanted to go into medicine, that's what I thought I would do. I kept that same mindset until I got to that clinical rotation, and as I went through it, I was like, hmm. There were some things that [made me realize] - I'm not sure if this is for me. I don't think I realized how heavy of a surgical subspecialty it was, and I was like, I don't know if I want to be a surgeon, honestly. [There were] some other lifestyle factors, and I just I didn't love it as much as I thought I was going to.
That was kind of in the middle of my rotations, and I had kind of liked everything up until then. Afterwards, I had pediatrics, which I kind of liked, and then surgery. I liked being in the OR a lot better during that rotation, interestingly, than when I was on OB. I think it just felt like a more controlled environment. It wasn't as chaotic. Finally, I decided I wasn't going to go into OB. That whole process in and of itself was very hard. I felt like I was having an identity crisis. I love women's health, and I just always pictured myself in that field, so it was hard, but then I decided, okay, it's just not the right fit.
It was last block of third year, and radiology was at the end. And going through that week, it was mostly, like, didactics - talking about the different subspecialties within radiology, which I didn't know anything about, because I had never thought about it before. The breast imaging lecture is what caught my attention, because I [thought] this is maybe a good avenue for my women's health interest. A mentor of mine that was in radiology took me under his wing, and he was like, yeah, I think you'd be great. He just started mentoring me, and I have [now] planned all my electives through him. As I started thinking about it more and looking into it, and then going through the electives, I was feeling more and more confident about the decision. There's different aspects that I like. With breast imaging specifically, you do actually get more patient interaction than other radiology subspecialties, because you get to do procedures, like breast biopsies. You get that patient interaction, and you get to be the one looking at the images, getting answers for people, kind of like being a clinical detective, getting to see what's going on with the patient.
Erin: Thanks for sharing all of that. That's such an interesting progression and I really appreciate how you've thought through the process. Radiology was at the end of your rotation, so it's like, save the best for last. You never know, right? Bust also, the power of mentorship and finding somebody who can engage you more deeply in the field and walk you through it is really powerful.
Marisa: Yeah, 100%. I feel like it kind of parallels my experience in undergrad with finding Dr. Goff and the lab. You know, she was obviously a huge influence for me as well, so, I've been happy to find that here, too.
Erin: That's fantastic. I'm really happy to hear about that. As you know, a lot of people in the lab are interested in medicine. Not everybody ends up going to medical school, but I'm curious if you can reflect a little bit on that. How has medical school been for you? Is it what you expected, or not?
Marisa: I don't think I knew what to expect, honestly. No one in my family or super close to me had gone through the process, so I had no idea what to expect, and I was scared because of that, just the fear of the unknown. The preclinical years are definitely difficult, but doable, I would say. I think figuring out how to study was the hardest thing....like what works best for you, different study styles. There are all these new resources that exist; it's different from undergrad. It's a grind, but it's doable.
Once you get to your clinical experiences, during third year, it is 100 times better, and, you know, you feel like you are here, and, you know, this is what you came to medical school for. You get to help people and really see what the clinical side is like. One thing I was really surprised about was - I was very scared about not being able to have any free time, or maintain hobbies, or just, like, my lifestyle that I enjoy, and I was able to do that 100%. I feel like that's something that I want to make known to people.
Erin: That's amazing. How did you pull that off?
Marisa: My mindset is always, like, okay, study hard during these hours so that you can have this time off. I feel like I built up those habits in undergrad, too, where I would work really hard during the week and make sure I got all my work done, and then, weekends were my free time. In med school, I definitely did not have full weekends free. I would definitely have to study for a half day, and then have the second half to go out or do something. But during the weeks, I was still able to get 8 hours of sleep, get my workouts in, cook, do normal things and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and go on trips.
UMass actually does a really good job, too, with their schedule, They had a newer curriculum when I started, and they had these things built in called WIN Weeks, and it stood for What I Need Week, and basically, at the end of each block, we would have our exam on a Monday, and then we would get the rest of the week off before we started new material. So, people would travel and do whatever they needed to do. I think they've either shortened them or done away with them, I don't know. Apparently, it wasn't working out really well, but that helped, too, just having the built-in time off.
Erin: Yeah, it worked for you. That's a shame that it's not there anymore, but I love that, seems like it was an emphasis, at least for the time when you were there. Do you think you'll do any research moving forward as you look forward into your career, or do you think you'll mostly be focused on practicing?
Marisa: I did dabble in research during my preclinical years, and still do a little bit now, too. I don't really have a lot of time to dedicate towards that now, unfortunately, but I try to keep up with qualitative stuff, and I really did love it. In between first and second year [of med school], UMass offered us a, I forget exactly what they call it, but basically we get a research stipend, and there were different projects that we could apply for. I did a qualitative project on lactation medicine, which I love. That was very fun. But going forward, I think it kind of depends on where you end up for residency. If you're in a more academic, bigger university setting, it's usually expected that you do some research, and then also looking ahead, it's always about CV building, too. For fellowships, sometimes you need research, whereas if you're in a smaller community-based program, I think there's not as much of an emphasis or opportunities to do research. So, I think it will probably depend on that. Radiology as a specialty, I know, is not huge into research, especially qualitative stuff. But, as an attending, looking way into the future, I don't know, maybe. I really enjoyed working on projects. It's the manuscript writing that was my least favorite part, and it's obviously one of the most important.
Erin: Fair enough.
Marisa: But yeah, I don't know, I have enjoyed it, so we'll see.
Erin: I have two wrap-up questions, and then I'll let you go. One is - now that you've been out of the lab for 4 years, or going on 4 years, I'm curious - looking back at your time here, what stands out to you? What do you remember the most, or maybe what is the most influential thing that you've taken from the lab?
Marisa: I feel like there's so many...one thing is just talking again about mentorship. I think just learning the value of having a good mentor for myself, but then also I fell in love with peer mentoring others during my experience in the lab. I've tried to carry that through in med school, too. There are some peer mentoring programs for pre-meds and stuff that I've gotten involved in, and I really appreciate that small-scale, one-on-one mentoring.
Also, as far as skills learned, one thing that has been so relevant is just interviewing skills. That's very relevant to medicine and patient interactions. You spend the first two years of med school learning how to interview a patient, and I feel like it was all the same skills that I built up in the lab, just as far as, you know, open-ended questions and things like that, so those were all very transferable skills that were very nice to have.
And just - the fond memories of the lab. It just felt like such a family. I was thinking about the first get-together at Dr. Goff's house, the end-of-year get-together, and just having such a positive group dynamic. It obviously speaks to the leadership of the lab, the people that you guys have always attracted, and just, the bonds that are able to form, when having this common goal, working on the projects together, but then also, I think, having really similar personalities and interests. It was such a warm and inviting place, and that's ultimately what stands out to me.
Erin: I love that. That's so great. Okay, last question. You don't have to tell us, but do you want to share where you hope to end up for residency? Do you think you'll stay in New England or are you looking further afield? Where do you hope you'll be a year from now?
Marisa: Yeah, so I feel like I'm still very much the same. I still love being close to home, and I want to stay as close to home as possible, so definitely in New England. I've been wanting to go to Brown, because that's the closest for me. However, I still haven't done a deep dive into all of these programs and what they're all about. I've had such a great experience at Baystate, truly. Everyone has been so nice, and I've just had really positive interactions throughout the whole year that I've been here. And then obviously in radiology, I have my mentor and all the residents that know me. So I think I'd be really happy at Baystate, too, or maybe the Boston program, but I'm definitely hoping to stay close.