When is Age a Barrier?

Being a young person in the medical field comes with both excitement and challenges.

Initially, I often found myself feeling disillusioned, that as a young person, I would not be taken seriously. There weren’t many opportunities to engage in medicine or public health, and when there were, I felt left out. For example, when I helped organize and volunteered at local health fairs in my community, people would ask me whether I was in the right place or if I knew where I was going.

My attitude changed in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, I saw the impact of misinformation around me as many people in my school or community were hesitant to take the newly developed vaccine. I realized many people had questions that remained unanswered due to this information barrier. For example, many students in my classes had families who didn’t speak English and were therefore unable to access accurate vaccine information. I felt empowered to leverage my experience as a young person and help inform families by hosting vaccination webinars where other young people could get their questions answered. They could then carry the new information they learned back home, acting as ambassadors to inform their families.

The experience helped me realize the importance of building trust with vulnerable populations and how young people could help bridge a critical gap in public health information dissemination.

My point of view allows me to better understand the experiences and needs of young people, and eventually to realize that we have a lot of hidden impact, even if it doesn’t seem apparent at first. I find great strength in this perspective and it galvanizes me further in my work serving disadvantaged communities.

The new generation of youth is more civically engaged and committed to social change than ever before. You may not see us, but we act diligently behind the scenes to influence decisions made at all levels of society. Our voice is louder than you think.

Mehr Grewal; University of Washington