STUDENT ROUNDS Telling Stories
FOR MALLORY ROWLEY ’23, PRACTICING MEDICINE AND WRITING ABOUT IT ARE DEEPLY INTERTWINED.
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acing cancer is a life-altering drawing, music, and dance. But “I started thinking about why I experience, one marked by her illness and lack of response to was pursuing this path,” says un certainty, fear, and isolation. treatments at the time drew her to Rowley. “Was it because I’d been But for some patients, writing about science. “I found myself spending a sick kid or was this really what their experiences and feelings increasing amounts of time combing I wanted to do with my life? With provides a powerful coping outlet. journal databases. I scoured the liter my molecular biology major, I was As a creative writing student at ature for clinical trials or experimen always in a lab doing research and Colgate University, Rowley began tal therapies,” she says. An inflam felt removed from the humanities.” writing about her experiences growing matory bowel specialist took an Her dualing interests were a up with Crohn’s disease. While work interest in her scientific inquiry and constant balancing act, pulled ing at Sloan Memorial Kettering Cancer explained the risks and benefits of between pursuing a career in science Center as a breast surgery care coordi each treatment she discovered, or screenwriting. At a routine medi nator, she began volunteering as a an experience that piqued an interest cal check-up near the end of college, writing mentor for cancer patients, in a career in healthcare. Rowley received an invaluable piece helping patients transfer of guidance from her their feelings and experi physician, who had “Having just presented my first paper, ences to narrative work. attended medical Now a third-year school later I realized there is not a lot of guidance for medical student at in life himself after students on doing that. We’ve created a Upstate, Rowley has studying medieval continued in that role, renaissance litera forum for students to be able to work on currently working vir ture. “Do not confuse tually with three adult science as being syn their public speaking skills within the patients who all happen onymous with medi science world and to make remarks concise cine,” he told her, to have breast cancer. Rowley is also part of a “for one is more so that people who aren’t in your specific team working to develop closely tied to the fields can understand it.” an app that could expand story of people.” hospital writing pro After graduating —MALLORY ROWLEY ’23 grams nationwide. “The magna cum laude, goal is to create an app Rowley heard about that will be available to hospital Rowley graduated from Liverpool a program at Sloan Kettering for systems seeking to engage patients High School in suburban Syracuse as recent college graduates that pro in the writing community as part of valedictorian of her class, then went vides opportunities to shadow differ their therapy. But we’re only in the to Colgate University, where she ent aspects of healthcare while very early stages,” she says. majored in molecular biology with working in an administrative posi Rowley’s interest in the program a minor in creative writing. Because tion. It seemed like a good fit. was organic, as someone with a lot of her strong academic background, Through mentorship from physi of experience as a patient. As a child she was able to test out of most cians, she realized she was drawn with Crohn’s disease, regular doctor introductory-level classes and enter to working with patients and serving appointments were the norm. While as a sophomore. She was also accept as a patient advocate. She also began advances in medication have allowed ed into a pre-med program that volunteering with Visible Ink, work her to be in remission since age 20, would have allowed her to attend ing with pediatric patients in her her eight years of illness left a per medical school at University of spare time. “I saw much of their manent impact. Rochester or George Washington uncertainty and weariness in coping Rowley says she was always a University without taking the MCAT, with their illness in an earlier version creative kid who loved writing, an option she chose not to take. of myself,” Rowley says.
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UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | AUTUMN 2021
