Abigail "Abi" Zavod, MD, MPH

Bio

There is a picture on the wall in my office which shows me, at age 2, listening to my mom's belly with my plastic stethoscope, peering intently at her face through the little snap on glasses included in my doctor's kit. I came from a family of doctors: my grandfathers were both physicians, my cousins were physicians, and my father is a physician. I thought that I would probably follow in their footsteps! As a teenager in Connecticut, I tried to learn as much as I could about being a doctor. I watched an autopsy with a local pathologist. I volunteered at the hospital in the recovery room. I loved helping people and got great pleasure from seeing the effect that something as simple as bringing a warm blanket could have.

I entered Brown in the fall of 1987, intent on becoming a physician. I took chemistry with all of the other premeds, struggled with calculus, and then began organic chemistry in the fall of 1988. We had a professor who had returned from retirement to teach us, Dr. Clapp, and many of us failed the first exam. As we sat there mourning our grades, he stood up at the front of the class and began to go over the test. He

was understandably upset by the results, and all of sudden, in mid-sentence, he fell over. Forty premed EMT's rushed up to assist him, but it was too late. He died while teaching our class. This terrible event stunned me. How could I become a doctor and take care of people? Watching someone die in front of you, someone you had a relationship with, was too difficult. I shelved my premed aspirations and studied pure biology. I would become a teacher, and help people that way. After a year away from the idea of going into medicine, I began to reconsider. Perhaps I was wrong to give up my dream of becoming a doctor. In the fall of 1989, my Grandpa Bill's health began to fail. He was an incredible role model for me. He had gone to medical school after escaping from Russia in the early 1900's. He became a pulmonary specialist and treated tuberculosis patients around the world. He urged me to go to medical school. He was convinced that I could become a physician, and more importantly, that I could be a good physician. He died on Christmas eve. The next semester, I returned to Brown determined to complete the premed requirements.

I graduated from Brown in 1991, and worked at a hospital doing research for a year while I applied to medical school. I didn't realize it at the time, but this year delay and exposure to patients and medical records gave me useful knowledge for my future. I entered Tufts University School of Medicine in the fall of 1992. During my time at

Tufts, my husband Seth Trotz (Brown Class of 1991) was diagnosed with testicular cancer. As a medical student, I knew too much about the diagnosis. As a wife, I knew nothing about how to deal with such a life changing event. He had surgery and radiation, and we were told to think about having kids sooner than later. Having a baby during medical school?? The idea was preposterous. Yet so was the thought that we might never have a child if we waited. We were the youngest patients in

the infertility clinic, but were thrilled to discover that I was pregnant in the summer of 1995... with twins.

I spent the fourth year of medical school waddling to my electives, and managed to go into preterm labor on the last day of my last rotation. Our boys were born eight weeks before graduation. I took another year off to raise them and finish my Master's in Public Health, and then began my training at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Internal Medicine. I finished in 2000, 30 weeks pregnant with our third child, and took my boards 80% effaced praying that I wouldn't go into labor.

My career path as a woman in medicine has been long and winding and challenging and wonderful. I would not have changed anything- I believe that with determination, you can do anything you want to do when you set your mind to it. I am now an internist at the Lahey Clinic. I am also a mom of three growing boys and a spouse and an aspiring artist and a baker!

Surprisingly, I have managed to combine caring for people with teaching, which allowed my two career goals to marry. I teach my patients about their health and their diseases, and I am a clinical instructor for Boston College. I also precept residents from Lahey. Being a doctor has given me wonderful opportunities: the picture I submitted is of me holding a citation from the former Governor of Massachusetts for

volunteering in "Operation Helping Hand", a program which cared for Hurricane Katrina evacuees at Camp Edwards. Taking care of the displaced residents of New Orleans was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a physician. The evacuees had literally nothing but the clothes on their backs, and still managed to go on with their lives and be happy. I got to help make them feel better- something that always makes me feel good.

What advice would I give to Brown students, women in particular, about

becoming a doctor?

Make sure you love people, love taking care of people, and know that it will be challenging. There have been so many amazing things which have happened in medicine in the last ten years... treatments for HIV, vaccines against cancer, saving the tiniest babies. There will be many more to come and you can help make them happen! Take a deep breath and set your goals. Believe in your dreams, take the lemons thrown in your path and make lemonade, and drink plenty of it on those long nights on call!