Daughter, sister, wife, mother and TCOM student

[Link]The first year of medical school for most students on a scale of 1 to 10 is about an 11, but for Alicia Segovia, that number more than likely is incalculable. She had just left her home in Laredo, her family, her husband and her young daughter to start at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth in 2021.

"It was really hard," said Segovia, holding back tears.

The guilt was difficult for Segovia, but this first-generation American and graduate of any level in her family was determined to do this for them. The family that brought her out of a poor village in Mexico, the family member she saw pass away due to a medical error, the husband she supported on his journey to recovery, her parents who worked day after day to support her, the friends she made at TCOM who became her family and most of all, her little girl who would go around telling friends that her mommy is going to be a doctor someday.

Now, Segovia is on the cusp of becoming an osteopathic physician as she and her classmates prepare for the biggest day of their medical school lives, Match Day. This is the remarkable journey of a little girl from a poor, remote village in Mexico to becoming a physician, all for her family.

A traditional family

Born in Mexico, her family immigrated to the United States and settled in Phoenix when she was young, but education remained important to her parents, despite them not having a high school education.

"I grew up in a traditional Mexican household and my parents really wanted us to continue our education," Segovia said. "My parents worked so hard for me and my siblings because they wanted us to have better opportunities than they did."

Although Segovia married young, right out of high school in 2013, receiving a higher education was always in the back her of mind, but it was brought to the forefront by tragedy.

In December of 2013, her cousin went in for a tonsillectomy, and following the procedure Segovia and a cousin went over to visit him, but instead found him dead.

"They had given him the wrong medication and when me and my cousin found him, his airways closed, and he was unresponsive," Segovia said. "That was my first experience with medical errors. I had never learned about that and never experienced that."

The devastation of losing a close family member from a very common surgery sparked an interest in medicine for Segovia. Following her husband's deployment, they moved to Colorado and Segovia began taking college courses, but they were more geared toward nursing, not a physician. Without guidance, Segovia was under the impression you needed to become a nurse first. It was near the end of August 2014 when her husband had eye surgery. Segovia was the one who took care of him. That's not all, her husband faced significant challenges transitioning to civilian life and she was there for him. She continues to raise awareness about the mental health needs of veterans to this day.

A year later in May 2015, her daughter was born while her husband was training for another potential deployment. By the end of the year, Segovia was on the move again, this time to Laredo and the family settled there to be closer to her husband's mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Her academic journey, which started in 2014 included a path of chemical engineering, nursing, biology, and then finally pre-med. While juggling her responsibilities as a Mom, Segovia finished her undergraduate degree in 2019 with her eyes focused on medical school, knowing the sacrifices that awaited.

Coming to Fort Worth

[Link]Segovia was accepted as part of TCOM's Class of 2025 and the challenge ahead was daunting…and it had nothing to do with medical school yet. Her husband would have to take over the responsibilities at home - the cooking, cleaning, getting their daughter ready for school and even learning how to do her hair. The entire family would have to pull together.

"My family has always been my greatest motivation," Segovia said. "I just kept telling myself that I had something and someone that depended on me to do good. I was doing this for my family, but also for my parents. I kept telling myself that it's going to work out."
Before setting foot on campus, Segovia already had a friendship with a future classmate, Aiyana Ponce. The two met during the virtual medical school interview season in 2020 before either one was accepted to TCOM.

"We instantly bonded over our love for food at smaller Mexican grocery stores," Ponce said. "Shortly after our TCOM interview, she found me online and from there our friendship began."

The first year was difficult for Segovia. She would call home daily and FaceTime her daughter during her spare moments and would drive back to Laredo at every opportunity possible, but the overwhelming sense of guilt never vanished for Segovia.

"I felt guilty, especially during the first year because my little girl had started school during the COVID era and was struggling during the transition back to in-person learning," Segovia said. "I felt very ashamed in a way because I was here in medical school learning and getting a good education, but my daughter was struggling and I couldn't be there to help her out."

She began forming friendships with other classmates, some who were mothers themselves and others who had husbands who were in residency and could relate to her situation. Meaghan Nelsen, DO, MS, FACOOG, IBCLC, TCOM's director of year 2 curriculum, is her advisor and a key figure in helping her through the first two years.

"When she first came to my office, she explained everything to me about her situation," Nelsen said. "She had left her family to come here and pursue her dream and it was really weighing on her. I tried to coach her, not just on medicine or academics, but how she is raising such a wonderful daughter who will be so empowered by the things she is going to accomplish. I wanted to show her how important that it was and that you can chase your dream, women can do great things, and being a mother doesn't limit you."

Nelsen recalled a situation where Segovia encountered a difficult moment academically. Instead of it being a moment where she could have crumbled, she embraced the challenge and within a month was back on track.

"She handled that moment with such maturity and poise, it's not often seen in very challenging moments," Nelsen said.

Segovia was active in TCOM's Latino Medical Student Association, playing an integral part in the group being named the Southwest Chapter of the Year in 2023 as the Regional Representative. Her support system at TCOM became an imperative part of her success.

"The best thing we could do for those first two years while she was far from her family was to serve as a support system," Ponce said. "We created a family away from home for one another. We helped each other study, we would cook, eat, work out and support each other through the academically challenging time. We spent so much time together that people would even confuse our names!"

Her TCOM family did all they could for Alicia and her husband, who took the bulk of the parenting onto his shoulders. They would help with her travel, take care of her pets while she was away, and creatively come up with ways to study. The drive to Laredo from Fort Worth is roughly six hours, so Ponce decided she would call Segovia while she was driving home and painstakingly read PowerPoint slides to her and creatively study to keep her on top of her school while going home.

Still six hours from her family, Segovia tried to make it home as much as possible, but in her first year that was only around 10-15 times. She managed her time to focus on studying, but also calling home to talk with her daughter and husband routinely.

"I would compartmentalize when I was studying. I was focused on this studying for a good two hours, then I would call my daughter," Segovia said. "When I would see my family, I wanted to be there 100 percent for them, and not be worried about classwork."

Segovia made her way through the didactic years at TCOM and as her third year began, she purposely chose to leave Fort Worth for rotations.

"I decided to go to Corpus Christi, it was closer to home, just two and half hours so I could go home more frequently," she said.

A dream comes true

[Link]She is the second oldest of five siblings and the oldest daughter and without the foresight of her mother and father wanting to give their children better opportunities, a Match Day moment like this for Alicia Segovia would not be happening. The support from her parents and husband never wavered, even during all the ups and downs of life and medical school.

"Whenever I'm feeling down, I call my Mom," Segovia said. "Even though sometimes my parents don't understand the way things work in this field, they continue to cheer me on this journey."

Segovia has applied for a family medicine specialty and has zeroed in on her hometown of Laredo during the interview process. Joining the medical field as a Latina is difficult and Segovia herself can't quite believe that she's on the cusp of joining it with all that she has had to overcome.

"I just think, wow, I'm really going to graduate as a doctor," Segovia said. "I see myself interviewing with other applicants from different backgrounds, sometimes I'm the only Hispanic or female or the only person with a kid, and it's like wow, everything has led me to this moment. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that a person with my background is in the same building as the people who have this level of education. I can't believe it."

Segovia recently received her graduation regalia, but she wasn't the first person to try it on, it was her daughter. As a first-generation physician, the "family" in family medicine is very appropriate for Segovia. It's not lost on her the time she sacrificed and she wants her residency program to be very family oriented.

"I want to spend as much time with my family as possible," Segovia said. "Being away, I'll never get those years back, so I want to stay close to my family and be close to them."

Her immediate family won't have to wait long for her to be home for good, but the impact she made on her TCOM family that brought her to this threshold is also palpable. The impression she made on her classmates with her dedication, often reminded them of sacrifices their family members have made.

"She truly made me a better person," Ponce said. "She balanced medical school, marriage, and motherhood with such grace, and she inspired all of us. She didn't just get through medical school while being away from her family-she uplifted all of us along the way. She will be the best family physician in Laredo as she treats every patient like family, all while showing her own family endless love and dedication."

"She is such a great mom and she has taught me about motherhood too," Nelsen said. "Alicia is going to be an amazing family physician that will connect with everyone. She is so down-to-earth and approachable, she will be so great for her patients and community. I am so proud of and I can't tell you how excited I am for her to be my colleague."

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