From dietitian to doctor: Starting medical school mid-career

(SACRAMENTO)

Three years ago, Charlotte Zhang was working as a registered dietitian when her younger sister asked a question that changed everything.

"Hey," Justina Huang asked, "Have you thought about going back to school?"  

CaptionCharlotte Zhang, a mother of three, enters the UC Davis School of Medicine, where she's enrolled in the ACE-PC pathway to finish in three years instead of four.

By "school," Huang meant medical school. Zhang had taken the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) about 13 years earlier and scored well but decided not to apply.

The question lingered. The desire to become a physician still remained despite years spent building a career and raising a family. This time, Zhang decided to pursue it. She enrolled in online, out-of-state science courses, retook the MCAT and, with the encouragement of her husband, applied to medical school.

On Saturday, Zhang will officially join the UC Davis School of Medicine as one of 139 first-year medical students.

"I'm very grateful to be here and I would say it feels surreal," Zhang said. "But at the same time, I feel like I'm in the right place, like it just fits."

The induction ceremony, also known as a white coat ceremony, takes place at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis. The new students will receive a warm welcome from deans, be given a stethoscope and hear words of advice from fourth-year students. The 10 a.m. ceremony will be livestreamed on the School of Medicine's Facebook page.

Returning to her UC Davis roots

For Zhang, medical school means returning to the university where she earned her master's degree in nutritional biology in 2014.

She has since worked at hospitals in Fairfield, Lodi, and even UC Davis Medical Center during her dietetic internship in 2016. 

She loved her 10-year career as a registered dietitian, which included a stint in private practice where she provided counseling. She especially enjoyed the opportunities to help children develop healthier habits, educate parents about nutrition and see the positive results.

"I worked with a lot of kids with eating disorders, and it was very meaningful to connect with them and gain their trust," Zhang said. 

Some of the most memorable chapters of her career have unfolded at Shriners Children's Northern California, the Sacramento hospital where she has been a clinical dietitian since 2022. The hospital is located across the street from the UC Davis Health building that houses the medical school classrooms, so she can easily meet old friends for lunch.

Providing nutritional therapy allowed Zhang to appreciate the rich cultural diversity of her patients. She helped some make dietary adjustments without sacrificing dishes that held meaning for their families.

Charlotte Zhang worked for 10 years as a registered dietitian in places such as Fairfield, Lodi and Sacramento before being accepted to study medicine at UC Davis.

"Food is so important to your identity," said Zhang, who was born in New Jersey to Taiwanese American parents and lived most of her childhood in China. "It's really about enjoying your food and honoring your culture. And I think that's what medicine should be."

The push to become a physician

When Zhang committed to applying to medical school upon her sister's suggestion, and husband's support, she knew the journey would require significant sacrifices.

Her kids were 1, 3 and 5. Her husband worked a more demanding job at that time. When he was traveling, Zhang juggled raising the children and shuttling them to daycare and activities, packing the lunches, doing the laundry and other chores - all while working part time.  

"I was treading water," she confessed.

She signed up for online classes, one after the other, to reactivate expired pre-requisite coursework for medical school applications. First chemistry. Then organic chemistry. Biology. Physics.

While most classmates watched lectures in real time, Zhang squeezed them in whenever she could - late at night after her children went to bed and on weekends.

Her work ethic will come in handy at UC Davis - and not only for the usual rigors of medical school. Zhang is one of six students enrolled in the ACE-PC pathway, or Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care. The pathway allows students to complete medical school in three years instead of four through a more intensive curriculum focused on primary care.

Zhang dreams of becoming a family medicine physician and psychiatrist, she says. 

She looks forward to serving on a care team and intervening earlier with nutrition therapy - an opportunity she did not have as a registered dietitian.

As she begins medical school, Zhang's thoughts are on the people who helped make the journey possible.

"I'm thinking about my family: My grandparents were refugees, with very poor health literacy. My parents sacrificed for my education. My sister believed in me and gave me a nudge. I could not have gotten here without the support of my husband, in-laws and friends," Zhang said. I am investing in myself and modeling being a lifelong learner to my children."