My goal is to make sure no person of color ever has that experience. I noticed that my predominantly white male colleagues who went in this field had this pathway that was relatively easy for them because their dad was a urologist; or their uncle was a urologist. And that’s why they make up a pretty good percentage of this field.

So, your mentors may not look like you: Caleb Schroeder is white. I am not. He grew up in a rural part of California, in a working-class family. I moved around a lot and grew up in a very low-income environment. But he believed in me and pushed me. And I always say thank you to him when I do something in life.

I think one hidden challenge [of a career in medicine] is mental health and burnout. Being able to balance work, school, and research meant making sacrifices in other areas of my life.