>>Narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes, the only way to find out is to go see what's possible Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.>> [M SICA] [MUSIC] >> Alma: We're going to be traveling across California.

>> Samuel: From San Diego to our state capitol Sacramento.

>> Ryan: We're going to be talking to community organizers, physicians, mental health counselors, people who are changing the game in health care.

We're all in different fields of healthcare.

I'd be more on the technological side, Alma does public health, Sammy does the psychosocial bio aspects.

>> Samuel: It's going to be fun experience, everyone has a story to share.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: My name is Alma, I'm a student at UC Berkeley, I'm entering my final year.

Right now I'm packing my dad lunch.

I try to pack him lunch on days when I'm not busy.

I want him to have a healthy diet.

Everything that I do is very much family oriented or community centered.

Health care to me is public health, making sure that people have access to water, to food, making sure that healthcare is accessible, affordable.

I do want to go into the public health field, but there's not a lot of Latinx representation.

And, that's a little scary.

I feel like there's a lot of pressure because a lot of the times the healthcare system will fail people from my background.

I'm really excited to meet community organizers that are actually integrated within the community they're helping.

That's kind of where I want to integrate myself within the public health field.

I don't necessarily know what that looks like.

I'm kinda just figuring things out and I'm hoping this road trip will provide some clarity with that.

The healthcare industry is imperfect and I'm hoping I can make it better for the people in my community.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: My name is Samuel Solis.

I'm in my fourth year at UC Berkeley.

I'm majoring in psychology and integrative biology.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: So right now I'm doing some data analysis on patients' health outcome based on whether they had more or less provider visits and also educational like lifestyle change visits.

In my life, I'm like barely getting into the workforce so, stuff is going to change a, real drastic, real quick, which is something I'm not used to, me being a Bay Area boy staying in Berkeley like never really leaving home.

It's going to be something I have to deal with at a personal level.

Just knowing that I'm going to be growing, >> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: In my culture, mental health and just going to therapy and talking to somebody is stigmatized so hard.

Growing up on the poverty line, mental health challenges and mental health crises are very normal.

It's just been around me for a long time and I recognize that and that's why I want to go out and help.

I hope to be one of the people that really help flourish this field into something beautiful and something that will really help people.

While I'm going to be on this trip, what I really need to hear is why these leaders think it's worth being in the healthcare field.

Why they keep coming back to the same job where you're dealing with traumas, you're dealing with other people's concerns, because it's difficult, >> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: I'm really excited about learning more about myself and growing as a person.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: I'm Ryan Desmond.

I am a fourth year at UC San Diego and I am studying cognitive science with a specialization in machine learning.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: What I like about cognitive science is that it's just all encompassing, it's beneficial because it's understanding how the human brain works and understanding how we can incorporate that with technology.

The cons are also that it's all encompassing though because there's so much you can do with it.

There's design, there's human machine interface, there's neuroscience even.

I would like to determine like what specific niche would I like my cognitive science expertise to be a part of.

I do a lot of things outside of school, I'm a very creative person, so I like to read, play video games, crocheting, knitting, sewing.

I play a lot of instruments, so sometimes I'll whip one of those out.

Painting has been a really good help for my mental health.

I didn't think I'd get into it as much as I did.

I do have a lot of interests and my hope is that on this road trip that I will get to ask these people that we're interviewing, how did you figure out what was right for you?

Because I think the more people you ask that, the more you're able to get that understanding for yourself.

When it comes to my interests for after college, I'm not sure, I just want to be able to find something that I truly love.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: Don't get to do this kind of thing every day.

This is like something really special.

>> Alma: So I'm excited for all of us.

We're very busy people and I feel like we definitely need this break.

>> Samuel: I'm excited to go talk to people and learn a little bit more of what they're doing to help the medical field advance and be innovative.

>> Alma: I hope that we can make the most out of it.

>> Samuel: Let's head out there.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: We're at the Border Park also known as Friendship Park between San Diego and Tijuana.

We started out in Calexico.

It was kind of just a lot to take in because growing up I had a lot of experiences where I couldn't see my mom.

She was on the other side.

As a child, it was just very confusing because I didn't know what was going on and I was told she was on vacation.

As a little girl, I was literally not able to physically touch my own mom.

It was difficult growing up because I come from a very marginalized community.

I didn't have a lot, my parents completely overworked themselves.

I saw how unfair it was because I wanted more time with my family, but it was just quite literally, everyone in this community is in survival mode.

>> Speaker 4: [SPANISH] >> [MUSIC] >> Alma: Dr Vo provides a lot of services to that community.

It's a clinic so they can go into get checked or to get medicine.

>> Tien: I came here when I was in high school.

In a class they asked me, what do you want to become when you grow up?

And of course I wrote, I want to become a doctor.

And all the people look at me, are you serious?

You don't speak English, you know that, right?

>> Samuel: [LAUGH] Yeah.

>> Tien: Yep.

But that one thing about me, I committed and I don't give up.

>> Alma: I know you're so close to the border, so there's a lot of people here who are undocumented, and you provide services to them.

So I was just kind of hoping to hear how you did that and what the process was.

>> Tien: So we live in a family of six siblings.

We are farm workers in Vietnam.

So when I came here, it's kind of similar.

We have a lot of farm workers here next to Mexicali.

So a lot of people were very poor, they don't have a good job.

They just live on a daily basics.

If they work they have money to buy food, if they don't work, they have no money.

So I feel they need help here, especially those people that don't have even insurance.

They don't have Medicare or MediCal because they just crossed the border.

So come in, anybody, welcome.

We see them as they come.

We work with homeless, a lot of prison here as well, inmates here.

If they don't have insurance, I still see them, I don't refuse treatment.

I don't say no, I don't say no to anyone.

Don't focus on money.

Last year, my wife and I were really crying, because a lot of people, they got COVID and they don't have food to eat, because everybody shut down, the farm also shut down.

We decided to cook food and give it to them.

People know about this so they keep calling.

So we spent about three months on our own money to buy all the food, and then I partnered with the church and we send the meals every single day, every day.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to help the people here.

And then after three months, the community really trust my centers.

So they come in, they know that's free.

They don't pay anything, no co-pay, no nothing, we don't charge them.

People from Mexicali come over, I treat them, I don't care what nationality.

>> Samuel: I actually have family in Mexicali, so that's great to hear that you care for not just the people on this side of the border, that you care for all people.

>> Alma: I also have family in Mexicali.

I was getting teary-eyed while you were telling your story because when we came, my parents.

I can't cry, but my parents didn't have insurance and they were also treated at a clinic here, sorry.

>> Tien: Yeah, it's okay.

>> Alma: Going to the hospital was never a reality for my family.

I actually had an accident.

My family, all of them were undocumented at the time, nobody wanted to take me to the doctor.

Because even if there was some way we could pay for it, there's still that fear of you never know if any of the doctors can report anything, right?

>> Tien: We treat everybody the same, we don't really take a look at your status.

I prefer to treat people with no insurance or with MediCal, because they're easier for me to treat because they appreciate.

>> Ryan: Thank you for being the person that you are.

>> Alma: [LAUGH] I also want to say thank you, you work for the community that I also hope to serve in the future.

And you help people my parents, people that come from my background.

And not a lot of physicians do that, not a lot of physicians, they care more about the money than actually giving care.

>> Tien: I give you another tip, very important.

Don't waste money to advertise, but put money into community.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tien: Let them advertise for you.

>> Alma: Dr. Vo is innovative because he's willing to help people, finances don't matter.

There's not a lot of clinics like Dr. Vo's, because I think there's just still a lot of sentiment that not everyone deserves health care.

It's not ever explicitly said but you feel it, healthcare should be a right and it shouldn't be a commodity.

It shouldn't be a luxury.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: We have our interview with Ana Melgoza and this interview is going to be in Spanish.

She has overseen government relations, public, private, nonprofit partnerships, and everything.

I'm excited to see how she's managing to eliminate health disparities.

>> Ana: [SPANISH] >> Samuel: It was fun getting to talk to someone in Spanish.

>> Ryan: It's just very integral to healthcare innovations in California.

>> Ana: [SPANISH] >> Alma: [SPANISH] >> Ana: [SPANISH] >> Alma: [SPANISH] >> Ana: [SPANISH] >> [MUSIC] >> Alma: COVID really brought that out.

We were able to see how these marginalized communities are really not being cared for.

We have these medicines, but can people actually access it and is it actually affordable?

>> Ana: [SPANISH] >> Alma: [SPANISH] >> Samuel: [SPANISH] >> Alma: [SPANISH] >> Ana: [SPANISH] >> [MUSIC] >> Alma: That interview resonated so well with me because I saw a lot of myself in Ana.

It felt good to see that someone coming from a background like mine, a family like mine, a community like mine, has a vice president role in a really impactful company.

Definitely reassured that I belong in this space.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: Yeah, don't you slow down.

[LAUGH] For me I'm not far from my home, right?

But it feels like a vacation, like I actually went somewhere far because I just never get to do all this stuff.

>> Samuel: Now you actually get to enjoy your hometown, San Diego, it's a real nice ambience out here.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: Being on the road trip makes it possible for you to kind of get to know people at a different level.

>> Ryan: I'm a fan of art.

>> Samuel: There's caretakers that carry on the traditions now.

>> Ryan: Right, that's true, but what about new pieces?

You know what I mean?

They're not gonna be the same.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: We really get each other, we've talked about our views on life and I have enjoyed this road trip so much with them here.

>> Alma: We're going to pose on rocks.

>> Ryan: We're rocks.

>> Alma: It's kind of a workout.

>> Samuel: Not wearing the best shoes to be rocking around.

>> Alma: Give yourself momentum to be able to climb this.

Go back and give yourself momentum.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: That was awesome, thank you.

>> Samuel: Ryan's exploring.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: I had a blast.

>> Samuel: I really did enjoy being in Joshua Tree.

>> Alma: I saw my first shooting star.

>> Ryan: I'm pooped, it's been a busy day.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: [SPANISH] >> Speaker 7: [SPANISH] >> Samuel: So I am a first generation college student.

I still am the first person like to do the whole application process and figure everything out for myself.

I never really talked about going to college with my parents.

Senior year, as I'm finishing up applications and stuff, is like the first time I brought it up.

[SPANISH] >> Speaker 7: No [LAUGH] >> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: My parents are both immigrants, they came here when they were younger, they are hard working people.

All over me I've seen challenges and mental health crisis, and I saw my grandma just going through it after the death of my grandpa with her mental health.

And just feeling that I was powerless, and she was powerless, and not being able to help.

That kind of pushed me into doing what I want to do with the mental health field.

Healthcare takes a village.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: We're going to LA and we will be interviewing.

>> Samuel: Ayana CEO and founder, Eric Coly.

So Ayana, at its core, it's a tool in the mental health space.

>> Eric: You are 20?

>> Samuel: Yeah, we're all 20.

>> Eric: My goodness, I wasn't nearly where you were at 20.

You are far advanced.

My story is rather unusual.

I majored in finance, so I'm from Senegal overseas, moved here to go to college years ago.

Got into finance, got into banking, initially.

When I was in finance, I think I hadn't been able to fight back how unhappy I was.

You have a good career from a good company, life is good, right?

And it's what you believe until you no longer believe it.

And when you don't, you have to almost revise if you can what you thought life was meant to be about.

After finance, actually I got into deep depression for a long time and I hit rock bottom.

And two and half years ago one of my best friends, her name is Celeste.

She's like my sister and I'm the one who says to my friends, get you a therapist if you can.

And one day she said to me, she goes, Eric, I can't find one, one that at least I can mesh with.

And I said, well, how is that possible?

And over the phone, I said to her, wouldn't it be great if there was an app that you would get on?

It would develop for you a rather advanced profile of yours.

Not just simple, but layered, intricate, we aren't just a black, white, Latin person, we have layers, we have complexities, we have pain.

That the counselors that could see you and understand you, and feel you, and now go with me in the middle of it.

She said that'd be lovely, and I said, okay, let me call you back.

>> Alma: [LAUGH] >> Eric: And I became freer, if you will.

So there's a bit of an irony there where hitting rock bottom makes your life so miserable, but to me, it opened up so many valves and lanes for me.

>> Ryan: So I'm really interested in artificial intelligence and other machine learning algorithms, maybe even mobile app development.

So can I ask, how do your questionnaires different from the standard questionnaires?

Because I understand that you're a more inclusive mobile app.

So could you talk a little bit about that?

>> Eric: Of course, yeah, so to your point, exactly, when you go on an app, generally you get on the questionnaire whose goal is to get you a match that's ideal.

And so what we've done is we've deconstructed it and we're able to insert some rather culturally relevant items for it to work better.

As an example, so you aren't just Latin, you're Latin from El Salvador.

You are Black from Ethiopia.

You are white from Germany, right?

With nuanced answers, very important, important, not at all.

So imagine if we asked for ethnicity, where you are really from, how much you want them to be from your region, for gender, orientation, and religion?

At the end of the profile, I've learned that you are someone who would want a counselor who could be more from El Salvador, less queer, more Christian.

No one does that.

No one goes into such a deep level of identity to get to know you, for you to be able to be to be heard, right?

>> Samuel: That's why it's so hard to find a therapist.

>> Eric: Precisely, and that's why we named the company Ayana, which in Bengali means a mirror, right?

You need to be able to be seen for you to feel compassion, right?

Healing requires safe space.

We got lucky to be able to have a great team of engineers that help us out, serving corporations and individuals, and doing what I'm blessed to do.

>> Samuel: You've been saying some real words that have been hitting me real close to home.

So I just want to know like, what were some skills you picked up that you think have really made you who you are today?

Made you be able to start up this great company that's going to help out a lot of people?

>> Eric: See my own humble learnings.

>> Samuel: Go ahead.

>> Eric: What can make a society successful?

It's family structure.

And when you find your community, love them, support them and allow them to also love you and support you, make space for it too.

If you've never been seen or felt and you start to be seen or felt, it's a very cathartic and powerful emotion to go, you understand me.

I don't have to explain to you my story for you to really get me.

It's the foundation of being able to open up and start addressing what you are here for.

Make your pain purposeful.

If healing is your purpose, that's where it starts.

>> Ryan: He was so real.

>> Samuel: I felt every word he was saying and it was just hitting, and it just kept hitting and it didn't stop.

Honestly what he said to feel the pain, which is something I've always ran away from, I've never wanted to feel pain.

I've always been the person that like, is there an easier way, I'll do that way.

I have to learn to embrace that pain before I can get up and just be a better person.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: We really did go out and enjoy the beautiful city of LA, went out to Grand Central Market, got some good food.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: This is great.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: Where are we at?

>> Samuel: We're in Echo Park in the middle of the lake.

>> Alma: I think he wants to get us closer to the water.

Sammy, get us in there.

I want to be right there.

I'm just kidding.

No, guys [LAUGH] >> Ryan: [NOISE] Go forward!

That was fun.

I didn't expect to do that actually on this trip.

>> Samuel: That's why it's your first sneaker because it's so versatile.

>> Alma: So Sammy and Ryan are big sneaker heads and they actually, I bought my first sneaker with them.

>> Ryan: They go with anything.

They go with what you're wearing now.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: So cognitive science focuses essentially on how the brain works and how humans interact with the environment and with each other.

Well, my specialization is machine learning so that's like algorithms and software.

For others, like those with a specialization in neuroscience, they're more geared towards how the brain functions and different things that affect us.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: We went to the City of Hope, it actually isn't a city in itself, but it's just a really big medical facility.

>> Alma: Olivia has been a patient at City of Hope.

>> Samuel: Getting that dual experience of seeing both the doctor perspective and the patient perspective was really powerful.

>> [MUSIC] >> Olivia: So I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley area and I grew up 20 minutes away from the hospital that ended up saving my life.

I completed my first year in college and I didn't know what was happening.

I was experiencing these symptoms where I couldn't open a book and the specialists looked at what was going on.

And I learned that I joined the cancer community as a cancer patient.

So today you found out that you had cancer and that doesn't seem real.

Your life can just change in a minute.

Being diagnosed with a cancer is not what you would expect when you're just getting started learning about who you are.

Instead of being in my dorm room, I ended up being in hospital rooms and being introduced to the healthcare system.

>> [MUSIC] >> Olivia: I ended up being diagnosed in October of 2015 with acute myeloid leukemia, and what that looked like was needing chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant.

The most challenging aspects of what cancer brought to me became more of the psychological factors, realizing what I went through and having that really impact my energy, my belief in myself, how I related to my family, and what I believed was possible.

>> Olivia: It hurts to cry, it burns your skin.

I finally had a moment where I was like I need to cry.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: What piqued your interest in neuro psychology?

So what was like the moment for you where you were just absolutely enthralled by it?

>> Olivia: With all the medications that I didn't have two weeks to do a research paper on to understand like, okay, how is this going to affect me?

How is this affecting my brain?

And then to be able to have these thoughts of, if I take this medication but then I'm going to need a different medication.

>> Samuel: The side effects of that medication.

All right, got you completely.

>> Olivia: Come on now.

That's when I heard the name Dr. Natalie Kelly.

Dr. Natalie Kelly, I'm like, who is this person?

And who was able to answer that question of how has this changed the biology of me?

How has that changed my relationships?

And then how will that change my identity?

And having that validated as an actual question, that there's actual research.

It's real, I'm not crazy.

>> Natalie: Neuropsychology is relatively newer to the psychology world.

The medical model has primarily dominated in the sense of from a physical perspective, right, not always incorporating mental health.

I've seen that transition happen even, again, since my time starting here 10 years ago.

There really is more of a buy in, if you will, for the mental health aspect of oncology care and the psychosocial aspect.

>> Olivia: Can you take us through that process of finding how you got into the subspecialty of something like a pediatric cancer care?

>> Natalie: I was always interested in the brain.

I learned about neuropsychology as an undergrad, I applied to graduate schools, I got into graduate school and getting to oncology specifically.

I think my training in neuro psychology prepared me because I had some neuro oncology training, so working with children with brain tumors when I was in my fellowship.

And that was an area that I just really enjoyed, that was the first time I really had an opportunity to work with cancer patients and pediatric cancer patients.

I love learning about people's stories and understanding people and I really feel like neuropsychology allows me the scope to understand someone's story.

And so to put the pieces together to help them understand maybe what they're experiencing, and then also help them to be the best person that they can be in their environment.

We're trained to look at the neurology and understand your anatomy and pathophysiology and all of those pieces.

But then we're also trained to psychologists to look at the whole person and motions, and feelings, behaviors, and how all these things not only exist, but how they're integrated.

And how they contribute to a full being.

And to walk into an assessment with that whole person perspective, I think is an unique piece that neuropsychology adds >> [MUSIC] >> Olivia: Now I'm in a place where I'm actually able to say I believe in myself and I maybe do have enough time to create a life that I truly want.

>> Samuel: Olivia was a real cool person.

I'm glad we got to hang out with her.

>> Alma: And feed the koi fish with her, that was fun.

>> Ryan: Yeah.

>> Olivia: See, for me it was more of water.

We need to change the water and I just put the sink water and it died.

>> Alma: Wait, so did I but my goldfish stayed alive.

>> Olivia: Okay, I don't know where you live, but I guess the water is not good.

>> Alma: [LAUGH].

I just really appreciated her sharing and being so willing to share her experience.

Because in order to really understand the system, you have to listen to patients.

That made me look at the bigger picture.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: After LA, we started the drive up to Yosemite.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: You want help me find a small?

>> Samuel: Your diet plays a very big role in how you feel.

Knowing where your food is coming from, I feel like it's a vital thing to having a healthy life.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: The people that work out in this field most likely will be immigrants or most likely will not have health insurance.

There needs to be the type of people like Dr. Vo working up here in central California, working with these farm workers as well.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: I'm not an immigrant myself, but both of my parents are.

>> [MUSIC] >> Alma: These are the grape vines that my aunt works.

My aunt has been doing this for 40 years.

That's something I always carry with me.

It's something I always think about when I think about giving up.

It's all my family's hard work.

This is my family history.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: Having been through so many different biodiversities in a lot different geoscapes.

Knowing that California has that type of range in what you can see was really dope to see and explore.

>> Ryan: I really just enjoyed the peace and the tranquility of being away from a big city.

The mountains are just thousands of feet tall and the greenery is beautiful.

And you can just hear and see all the different animals that are roaming about.

It was nice to be able to unwind, to feel that level of connectivity.

Being a woman in STEM is hard.

I know it sounds crazy to say, but I love sitting down and seeing that I am a woman in STEM.

I know the field is mostly dominated by men.

But I refuse to ever let anything like that stop me from doing something I want to do.

I think the only thing that could hold me back would be myself.

It's very hard to make connections.

But once you make them, I feel like you can do anything you want within that field.

My goal is to make connections with people on a personal level in a way that they'd understand that I am a strong, capable young woman who has studied hard and will be an asset to their company.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: I have never been to San Jose before.

I'm excited to interview the COO of OhmniLabs.

>> Tra: Come on in, make yourself at home.

Fundamentally, OhminiLabs is a continuous innovation company.

Healthcare is actually the first segment that we went into.

We make service robot and we make telepresence robot.

We make UV disinfection robots, we make nanorobotic arms here.

There are lots of things that we make.

The possibility is basically the limit of your imagination.

>> Ryan: It really is [LAUGH].

>> Samuel: I'm not putting you down though, you have too much power as a robot.

>> Tra: So I started in engineering because my uncle was an architect.

And he seems to enjoy what he was doing.

Yes, I was like okay, let's do engineering.

But I was undecided for two years.

I got into the school on an athletic scholarship [LAUGH].

>> Ryan: For what sport?

Yeah.

>> Tra: Soccer, yeah.

I was in the varsity soccer team for four years.

>> Alma: Nice.

>> Tra: I didn't get into civil engineering or even financial engineering until my junior year.

When I had to decide, okay where am I going?

And I decided to do civil engineering because I felt that civil engineering has such an incredible impact.

>> Ryan: What were the things you were feeling during those experiences?

>> Tra: When I was doing my PhD I was actually feeling very depressed.

Yeah, I was in a pretty bad place and feeling like I would give up every single day.

Every day at work, I'm like, why am I doing this?

And I think the greatest failure at that point was to not reach out sooner.

Because when you do your PhD and you're doing research you're mostly by yourself, right?

I got to a point where it was like 90 pounds, sick all the time, feeling really bad.

And it was so hard to reach out to people and say that you're not doing okay, that you needed their help.

And if I could, I would have done that sooner.

So that eventually you can dig yourself out of a hole.

>> Samuel: Once you've trekked the trek when you've gotten over the hurdle of depression, it feels so much better, right.

>> Tra: Yeah, and nothing bothers me anymore [LAUGH].

This body is Champ, and this project started to work with US soccer to allow kids and patients to interact with the entire women US Soccer national team.

>> Alma: I love that.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: Honestly, this entire interview has just made me pretty geek out.

>> Tra: Maybe you should join OhmniLabs.

[LAUGH] >> Ryan: I am thrilled, I'm already excited.

OhmniLabs was so cool.

There's design, there's human machine interface.

So much you could do with it.

I would definitely want to make the robots [LAUGH].

I would definitely want to connect the circuitry and solder everything, it just is my bread and butter [LAUGH].

And maybe help make its brain.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: It was good to finally get back to the Bay Area.

Be home for a bit.

>> Alma: There's so many things to do around.

>> Samuel: Let's go get some good eats.

>> Alma: We were joking around, how do you know someone's from the Bay?

They'll tell you.

>> Ryan: I absolutely love it.

>> Alma: One thing I think has changed in me is I used to be this person that I wanted a clear direction.

And I wanted a plan and I just wanted to get to my destination as fast as possible.

But now it's kind of like I want to experience as much as possible in the meantime.

What I've really been enjoying is the interviews, actually talking to health professionals.

And I'm just excited to see what's next.

Because I think the Bay Area is one of the most innovative places.

The work that's being done there, it's never been done before.

>> Ryan: At Hopelab we talked to Danielle Romo.

It was an interesting experience.

I had never actually seen a company that does what they do.

You read about companies that are doing public health initiatives.

And mental health initiatives, right?

But to see all the different projects on the walls, I thought was just fascinating.

>> Danielle: There's a lot of shame around expressing honest experiences of things like mental health problems, diagnoses, substance use, suicidality.

And yet it is so incredibly common these days especially among young people.

I started as a teen being afflicted with a lot of issues that I now work on with teens.

What we see a lot of and what I used to see in patients when I was working clinically as a therapist with families is that oftentimes teens spent quite a bit of effort and energy trying to convince their parents that they needed help and support.

When parents didn't want to accept or believe that something that they thought of was scary or terrible could happen in their families.

So Hopelab is a social innovation lab.

We make behavior change technology to support adolescent and young adult health and well being.

And our first product was the video game Remission.

Remission was a game where users could be inside the body of a young person with cancer, fight off cancer cells with chemotherapy.

And we found when teenagers played Remission, they were more interested in and more likely to take their chemotherapy regimen.

Which is a really intense regimen of often years of taking daily pills that have intense side effects.

It started this partnership between something teens were really connected with to helping them to make positive and more powerful, confident changes in their lives that actually supported health.

I'll give you an example about young people who are addicted to nicotine through vaping.

We thought that was going to be particularly impactful to develop a social intervention that would help them quit.

>> Samuel: You need the social aspects with vaping- >> Alma: A lot of social pressure and stuff, yeah.

>> Danielle: It's so key, we've also been working on a product to address the high rate of loneliness among college students called Nod.

So we had an app that was encouraging people to make social connections helping first year college students make that transition into a new environment with new people.

Encouraging things like reaching out to someone via text after an online class.

So the opportunity space due to machine learning is vast and amazing.

And yet, I'm not sure that we've even scratched the surface of how to best use these algorithms to deliver supportive behavior change interventions.

And finally, we're working deeply in the area of LGBTQ plus mental health.

I'm working on an app that's going to be improving identity affirmation and prevent mental health problems that are adversely impacting queer young people today.

And that one is also very near and dear to my heart as a queer woman and a mom.

>> Ryan: I consider myself to be a fluid sexual orientation.

I don't like to put a label on it just because I don't know what it is.

But so my question is as a queer woman, how did you decide to do what you wanted to do?

Were there any other passions that you had to let go of because of what you decided to do with clinical psychology?

>> Danielle: Thank you so much for that question and for your honest expression that you're still trying to figure it out.

I think the fact that you have many passions is wonderful and amazing.

And wherever your passion lies, you can and should be able to dedicate your energy to all of these things.

And that they don't have to be trade offs for one another.

The artificial pressure that we often feel to find and hone in on a single passion is at best unfair.

And at worst oppressive and detrimental and can really have deep negative impacts on people's health and well-being.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: I really asked myself if money weren't a factor, right, if I could do anything in the world like right now.

I personally love my field and I like fashion and art and just things that are more on the creative side.

She said to find ways to intermingle, you know, my major and my passions.

Eventually just the things that you want out of your life, they'll come as long as you work for them.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: Our final stop of the trip, we're finally here in Sacramento.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: Talking to all the leaders, living on the road has helped me grow immensely over these last three weeks.

Being able to really digest all the new experiences makes me more excited to like be going in the direction I'm going, it gives me more purpose behind what I'm doing.

>> Alma: What I want to do is use my full self to kind of be like the bridge between the healthcare field and everything I've learned about it, and filling that gap of these inequities that exist.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: We're going to be talking to Dr. Mike Wilkes, he's a clinician, he also has a podcast called Second Opinion.

>> Alma: He's a really good storyteller, which is why I'm really excited to talk to him.

>> Michael: I didn't have a roadmap.

I didn't know what I wanted to do.

What I thought I wanted to do ended up being a little bit different.

The biggest barrier I think I had to overcome was this concept that we call imposter syndrome.

I had pretty significant learning disabilities.

It was this constant feeling that I could do more but was scared it and felt that every turn I took, I was faking it and that I really wasn't who people saw.

And that I was really this is fake inside.

And I went into journalism and I was in special ed classes because I couldn't read.

And here I'm writing news stories and things, you know, what am I doing, this is, I'm a fake and a fraud.

And then I began to write news stories and get very interested in health.

And I'd asked questions and they'd go, we just know you wouldn't really understand if we told you the the backstory.

So I finally said this is crazy, if I wanna be a really good journalist, I should go to medical school.

I went to medical school spent my four years as a journalist, a television journalist, and true to my calling left and went into regular journalism full time and realized that something in my life was missing.

And that I really wanted to be with patients.

At my ripe age now, I'm a professor of medicine and global health at the University of California here at Davis.

And I spend a lot of my research time looking at global health and how we can make this planet a healthier, safer, more integrated place to live.

The second thing I do is I take care of patients.

And my specialty is adolescent medicine.

And I run a very high risk teen clinic in downtown Sacramento for homeless teens.

>> Ryan: You just seem like a very well-rounded individual.

Somebody who's worked very hard, is just very intelligent in their field.

So I have to ask, what are your biggest successes and what are your biggest failures?

>> Michael: I'm not sure I have great successes.

If I have one, it is both a success and a failure, which is that I don't accept answers to questions.

I don't accept no, we can't do it, or we've always done it this way.

You can't practice medicine, I think in the United States, without having some fire in your belly.

Unless you're a plastic surgeon or something who just wants to do cosmetic surgery.

But if you're going to be out there in the real world, we don't teach our students that a huge portion of what they're going to be doing is advocating and pushing and starting off kindly and compassionately with providers.

But eventually, being a jerk, and calling up and saying, I'm not going to take this.

This patient is going to die, we need to do something about this.

Right now, there are pockets in the world where people suffer disproportionately, right, even in the state of California.

One of the seventh largest economies in the world.

You've got people going to bed hungry at night.

You've got people who don't have access to food even though they're picking food.

>> Samuel: Exactly, they're farm workers.

>> Michael: That's their job, right.

The only way we're going to survive is to recognize that this is a global ecosystem and everything is connected to everything else.

When we're talking about things like decent housing and safe housing and food and health care and mammograms for women and testicular exams for guys.

And those are things that nobody should be deprived of in a country like the United States.

If you really want to do your job well, you have to advocate for your patients.

And it's not just filling out a prescription or sitting and listening to them talk.

It really is pushing and pushing and pushing until they get what you would want for your mother or for your sister or for your best friend.

>> Alma: What do you hope to see from us and what do you advise us to really focus on within healthcare?

>> Michael: Perhaps three things.

One, humility, admit uncertainty and admit ambiguity and admit that you don't know something to a patient.

With recognizing that that doesn't mean that you're a stupid person, but that we are constantly changing.

The second thing I think that perhaps what you've learned on the road trip is that we need lots of answers.

We need people that are inquisitive, that can ask questions, and can be super creative.

Even the new mRNA vaccines came about, I mean the woman who discovered the mRA technology was told a billion times, this doesn't make sense, this is never going to work.

And the third is to recognize that medicine is really hard work.

It doesn't take a huge intelligence, but it really takes hard work and it's not to be a doctor that's so hard.

But once you're a doctor, it really is a life's calling and you've got to be willing to keep up the work.

You're there for somebody else, you're not always there for yourself.

>> [MUSIC] >> Samuel: How do you guys feel about finally ending the trip?

>> Ryan: I'm excited to get home and implement all of my ideas and my thoughts that I've had on this trip into my life >> Alma: Healthcare to me was just being a doctor, being a physician.

I quickly realized that the health care system was a lot broader than I initially thought it was.

>> Samuel: It was cool just going up and down California, seeing a bunch of new stuff, learning about ourselves.

It's been really interesting to hear all the quotes we have.

>> Alma: I love Dr. Vo.

>> Samuel: Dr. Vo was great, I loved talking to this man.

Can you read it out for us?

>> Tien: Yeah.

Be a community advocate, you will achieve your goals faster and easier.

>> Ryan: You work hard to help your community then you can see the joy in the community.

>> Ana: [SPANISH] >> Alma: Follow your biggest dreams, we can do it together, we can do it.

I kind of was struggling really just being in the healthcare field as a woman of color.

At the end of the day, it's really about bringing my full self and using everything that makes me who I am to help communities.

>> Eric: Okay, so I hope you can read my writing.

Make your pain purposeful.

>> Samuel: I want it to be okay for us to talk about our feelings.

I want it to be okay for us to cry, be vulnerable with people.

I'm going to be a catalyst for change within the mental health realm.

>> Danielle: Don't be afraid to express your rich roots as you follow an unconventional path.

>> Alma: What we've been seeing on this road trip is the unconventional path.

>> Natalie: Remember, you can always do it differently.

You don't just have to do it one way.

There's not just one way.

>> Olivia: There's always a different way to do it.

[LAUGH] >> Ryan: Continuous learning and innovation, enjoy what you do.

>> Alma: I think a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves to have it figured out.

And it's like, we're only 20 years old, we don't have to.

>> Ryan: I'm no longer worried or stressed about my future.

I'm just gonna continue to put in my effort and see where I go from there.

>> Michael: My advice to you is be humble and remember for better or for worse, you're only human.

>> Ryan: Final camera moment, scene one.

[LAUGH] It was an amazing road trip.

>> Alma: It's over but it also feels like there's new beginnings.

>> Samuel: I'm for sure going to miss all you guys.

>> Ryan: Honestly, I don't believe in goodbye.

We'll definitely see each other again, it's not the end the end.

>> [MUSIC] >> Ryan: There's a butterfly.

>> [MUSIC] Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com