Alina Mizul is a medical student from Quebec. Having taken an unconventional path to medicine, she embraces what sets her apart from her peers and enjoys blogging about her journey with the hope to inspire more people to chase their dreams no matter what age they are or what situation they are in.
In her own words,
"I have a really atypical medical path. I was a makeup artist before starting medical school abroad. Maybe that's the reason why I love drawing all my notes. I'm a visual learner and I need to put abstract concepts into images to understand. At the same time, studying this way makes me practice mindfulness; which makes medical school less stressful and more fun.
I started medical school the first time at 28 years old. I did four years of medicine in Europe. I said the first time I started because now, at 32, I got accepted into medical school back in Canada, so I am again a first-year medical student. I was in a complete different field before and as much as I liked it, I knew I wanted to do more. At first, I was a little discouraged because of my age and the time it will take me to reach my goal but I realized that my age should not block me for going after what I wanted.
There's no perfect timeline in life – we all have our own. Sometimes, it's hard not to compare myself with my younger peers, but I remind myself that everything is possible with hard work, dedication, determination and with believing in yourself no matter what age you are."
Follow Alina on Instagram and visit her blog at CoffeeAndAnatomy.com.
