Anjana Krishnan was a young middle schooler when medical school leaders and the community celebrated the grand opening of the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus on September 18, 2014.
She tagged along to the event with her father that day and was enamored with the newly renovated facility, especially the Simulation Center on the ground floor and the hands-on technology it boasted for learners at WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed).
“It was so fascinating to me,” Krishnan said. The manikins blinked and talked, I couldn’t believe how realistic it was.”
It was in that moment, Krishnan says, she knew she wanted to be a doctor, to fulfill a dream that took root for her on her third birthday when her parents gave her a toy doctor’s kit as a gift.
Some nine years after that life-changing day with her dad at the grand opening celebration, Krishnan – a Portage native who attended West Middle School, Portage Central High School, and the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC), applied to WMed hoping to earn a spot in the MD Class of 2028.
"Ten years ago, my middle-school self pressed my face against the glass window at the Simulation Center in awe as my dad explained the capabilities of the mannequins at WMed’s inaugural open house,” Krishnan said in the essays that accompanied her application for WMed. “Now, as a biomedical engineering graduate, I seek to study in WMed’s hands-on, technology enriched, and collaborative setting, including early clinical opportunities. Passionate about lifelong learning and aspiring to become a technologically savvy and analytical physician, I am drawn to the WMed curriculum that teaches through the application of fundamental concepts in team-based case discussions and will develop my skills and ability to adapt through realistic simulations.”
Even before she applied to WMed in 2023, Krishnan said her path as a learner pivoted when she was in high school as she chose to pursue a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Michigan. At the time, she still loved medicine but she questioned whether she wanted to commit herself to medical school and the academic rigor it would require. She ended up loving the biomedical engineering degree program at U-M and the chance it offered her to hone her analytical and problem-solving skills. During that time, she did a virtual internship with Proctor & Gamble and gained experience working on projects that directly impacted the field of health care.
But during that time, something was missing, she said.
“I was missing the human side of it all, those patient interactions,” Krishnan said. “I really wanted to have that impact on individual’s lives.”
That void Krishnan felt compelled her to volunteer at CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor during her junior and senior years at U-M. And her decision to pursue medical school was cemented.
“I really loved working with the kids,” she said. “They were going through the worst period of their lives but you would see them remain so cheerful and optimistic and that’s part of the reason that I want to go into pediatrics.”
When she began the process of applying to medical school, Krishnan’s memories of the day with her dad at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus were not far from her thoughts, and WMed was her top choice, she said.
“I love my community here,” Krishnan said. “I grew up volunteering at Bronson (Methodist Hospital), my family is here, my dad works at Zoetis right across the street from the Upjohn Campus and he worked in our building years ago when it was part of Pfizer. I knew WMed would be a great place to learn about medicine and give back to the community I was raised in.”
Krishnan graduated from U-M in 2022 and moved to Boston where she did research at Harvard University and volunteered as a rape crisis counselor for the Boston Hospital System. Then, near the end of 2023, Krishnan got the call she had always hoped for letting her know that she had been accepted to her hometown medical school.
“It was unbelievable,” Krishnan said. “I called my parents and my mom cried; they were so excited. I canceled all of my other medical school interviews and accepted the offer. I knew in that moment.”
Now in her second year at WMed, Krishnan said being a medical student in Kalamazoo is a dream come true. As a first-year student, she took part in Medical First Responder (MFR) training and got the chance to see up close – and use – the technology in the Simulation Center that had left her in awe as a middle schooler.
“Being able to work in the Simulation Center and utilize all of the technology to the max fulfilled my eighth grad dream,” she said.
Additionally, Krishnan has worked with the Community Health Interest Group (CHIG) at WMed and she serves as the community officer for the WMed chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). Through that work, Krishnan has led events at the Simulation Center for local Girl Scout troops to learn and earn their first aid badges.
“It really is a full-circle moment to get the chance to teach girls about health care and watch them use the technology I wanted so badly to use as a child,” she said.
As she looks ahead to years three and four of medical school, Krishnan said she feels well-prepared to dive into what awaits her as she will get the opportunity to care for patients and hone her clinical skills. The hands-on experiences she has been offered through years one and two will no doubt serve her well, she said.
And as she envisions her future beyond medical school, Krishnan has hopes of staying in Southwest Michigan and giving back to the community she loves. In the essays she wrote as part of her application for WMed, she summed it up this way:
“Hailing from Kalamazoo County, I want to study medicine and practice in the region, aspiring to give back to the community that nurtured the person I am today, while living close to my family,” she wrote. “My interactions with hospital patients and youth at outreach events in under-resourced communities in Michigan solidified my decision to pursue medicine. Inspired by stories from these students and patients, I am motivated to better health outcomes for underserved Michigan areas."