Colleen Chen
Bringing Social Work Experience to Medicine
Colleen Chen had a career as a social worker before deciding to return to school to earn a medical degree. “I loved being a social worker,” said Chen who worked for 5 years in an in-patient psych ward and an emergency room. “As a crisis worker, it was very fast-paced and you were working toward saving a person’s life. It was meaningful, but I also realized that I didn’t want to be doing this for the rest of my life.” Chen returned to her alma mater, Rutgers University, and completed a post-baccalaureate. “I felt like I found my groove,” said Chen.
She chose TouroCOM Middletown for its proximity to her home in New Jersey and because of the school’s mission. “I liked Touro’s mission to produce more doctors from underrepresented minorities—I don’t believe I’m one of those underrepresented minorities in medicine—but we saw a huge disparity in providers, patients and health outcomes because of these disparities when I was a social worker.”
She especially appreciated the early orientation session on bias in medicine. She hopes to integrate her social work training into her work as a doctor. “Osteopathic medicine is similar to the social work philosophy: we treat the whole person,” explained Chen. “We must understand the personal lives of our patients in a comprehensive manner. If I’m treating a medical issue, I want to know my patient as a person.” Chen, who specialized in working with geriatric patients as a social worker, plans to specialize in the same field as a doctor. She credits her interest in serving the geriatric population to the involvement of her grandparents in her early life. “My grandparents essentially raised me, and I was always taught to respect my elders,” said Chen. Chen is into rap and hip-hop, and her favorite artist is a toss-up between Kendrick Lamar and Lupe Fiasco.
