The Cardinal - Winter 2022 Issue

A Lifechanging 20 Seconds

by: Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS ‘02

I’m not certain of what I learned during my first class with Mr. Motsay, but I remember the experience. I remember his enthusiasm in the sciences. I remember the joy in his voice as he had us take out a 500-page textbook. What seemed like a daunting task (learning all of Biology), suddenly became more of a desired adventure. And Mr. Motsay was our captain.

As a son of immigrants, my parents made a conscious decision to put education first. Attending Calvert Hall, they felt, was the peak of education for me. Entering those halls as a freshman, my enthusiasm was also met with fear. “What if I could not keep up with my peers?” At this point of my life, I was primarily surrounded by family and close friends, those who were painters, seamstresses, restaurant owners, and mechanics. These were all occupations I saw myself considering; but those family members saw something in me and would say, “You’re smart, be a doctor!” While it was kind of my family to say this, they were family. What else were they going to say?

Halfway through my freshmen year, I was loving every class session with Mr. Motsay. From learning photosynthesis to mitosis to mitochondria, each class became its own experience. And my enthusiasm did not stop there. I would take that information home, teaching my parents in Greek about what I learned. Both my parents, growing up during difficult times in Greece, only completed a sixth grade-level education. For them, these at home lessons were enjoyable. My dad would reaffirm, “You’re smart, be a doctor!”.

At the end of freshmen year, I was keeping up well with my peers, doing great in Mr. Motsay’s class, and reading about Biology and the sciences on my own. I found a passion, but what would I turn this passion into? As fate should have it, Mr. Motsay one day in class asked me just that. He asked me a question he likely asked every student, “What do you want to be?” For the first time out loud, I exclaimed, I wanted to become a doctor. Mr. Motsay immediately said, “Do it. You would be great.”

That was it. That was the entire encounter, all of 20 seconds. Someone outside of my family saw my potential. Someone outside of my family said I could become a doctor. To a son of immigrants, with no doctors in the family, this felt surreal. But if Mr. Motsay believed in me, then it must be a goal I could achieve.

That day in May of 1999 still sits with me. I may have forgotten the exact date, but everything else, from Mr. Motsay’s tie to the outside temperature, continue to be alive and well in my memory. This was the first time that someone said I could become something.

Dr. Panagis is an assistant professor for the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He is the co-chair of JSSH Health Equity, Office of Diversity, Inclusion, & Health Equity. Additionally, he is the co-chair for Medicine for the Greater Good. His clinical responsibilities include director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine, associate director of The Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Center of Clinical Excellence, and a physician for The Obstructive Lung Disease Group at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Panagis completed his undergraduate studies at Temple University, his medical schooling at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, his internal medicine and pulmonary training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and his critical care medicine training at the National Institutes of Health.