You can read more about Daryl Nicki Jordan and her health care career journey here.

My post-graduate plans are to begin my medical residency training in the specialty of anesthesiology at Stanford University Hospital beginning at the end of June. This is a four-year program where I will continue to learn how to best manage patients who are undergoing surgical procedures and ensure that they remain stable and comfortable during the operation.

I also plan on continuing to mentor others, especially other Indian students, towards careers as physicians. We have the capacity to make great change to our society and to our communities by becoming leaders in the field of medicine and other science-dominated fields. I would love to see the future generations have a voice in the way that science and medicine is shaped and used to better the lives of Ahtna people.

I think the biggest lesson I have learned on this long journey to becoming a physician is that you should never be the person who is holding yourself back from achieving your goals. I think there is a tendency to doubt our abilities and assume that we are not smart enough or do not have what it takes to be successful. But if you really want something you owe it to yourself and your family to go for it and try.