After going through her own experiences with memorable doctors, Leah Genth chose to pursue medicine as a way to help others.
Now, Genth, 24, works as a medical scribe for Helix Scribe Solutions while applying to medical schools. Genth hopes to start medical school in 2025.
Genth grew up in Baltimore’s Charles Village and graduated from The Park School of Baltimore. She continued her education at Yale University, where she majored in ecology and evolutionary biology.
Genth lives in Fells Point, where she is a resident of Moishe House Baltimore.
What does a day in your life look like?
I love rock climbing and biking, so I typically try to do a wake-up workout and then I’ll work.
After work, I might work on my med school applications a bit, try to see a friend. I’ve been trying to explore the Fells Point neighborhood.
What is your favorite part about your job?
My favorite part of my job is getting to see different physicians’ bedside manner. It’s very cool how people input their personality into their practice. I think that you can have a bedside manner that makes patients feel comfortable and they can be very honest with you. It’s cool to see whether you’re a very outgoing person or a quieter person, or how different people use their own background and interests to connect with patients.
Do you know what kind of doctor you want to be?
I don’t. I’ve been doing a lot of shadowing, and I think right now the two things that seem the most engaging are orthopedics and emergency medicine. But I’m definitely looking forward to getting to try out all the specialties and see what seems more appealing.
I tore my ACL in high school, and I had an experience where I went to a doctor that my family had gone to. His focus with recovery and everything was super conservative. I was in this position where I was a high school athlete, and I really wanted to get back to the full function of playing sports. I played soccer, basketball and lacrosse for our varsity teams. I could just tell we were not on the same page. It was the first time in my life that I was in a position to make a medical decision. He took for granted who I was as a patient. So I asked if we could see a different doctor, and we ended up seeing a great doctor who totally engaged with me about what I wanted out of the recovery and what I was hoping to regain in terms of function. I think that opened my eyes to what practicing medicine can be like and the way you can connect with patients. I left that overall interaction and the months of recovery in [physical therapy] afterward feeling like that’s a cool opportunity to sit with somebody in a hard moment and be able to offer them emotional support and reassurance and also to have technical expertise.
How would you describe your relationship with Judaism?
For me, Judaism has been a way to find community in places that I wouldn’t always expect and a sense of home.
What is your favorite part about Passover?
My favorite part about Passover is that my mom actually hand made Haggadahs for our family when I was little. I think, to me, my favorite part about Passover is getting to be with my family and knowing it’s a thing that my mom has really prioritized. My mom wasn’t bat mitzvahed as a kid but had a bat mitzvah as an adult. So, I think Passover, among other holidays, really symbolizes for me her intentionality with bringing Judaism into my and my brother’s upbringing.
