Humans of UCSF: New Chapter, New Self

“Even though UCSF was my first choice for medical school, the decision to come here was a difficult one. I was raised in an Iranian-American, Jewish community and grew up attending all-girl Orthodox schools. I enrolled in UCLA after high school, perhaps because I felt that staying close to my family in Los Angeles would somehow vindicate my choice to discontinue my religious studies. When it came time to choose a graduate school, I committed again to Los Angeles... until I heard from UCSF.

“When I left the city I called home for the city of San Francisco I was stripped of the people, places and situations that had for so long informed the person I was. Without anything in this new city to define me, I have become the most authentic version of myself. I have been here for only a few months, but I have already made this place my home.”

Gabriela Beroukhim, UCSF School of Medicine, M1