Back when senior Rachel Davis’ dad Scott was still working, his wife sent him a photo of their daughter. Then-toddler Rachel was wearing Scott’s black winter glove on her left hand, just like he did.
“It was pretty cute, because she was emulating what she had always seen,” Scott said.
She didn’t know that Scott needed the glove to dampen his nerves due to his condition — that if he wanted to hold a grocery bag, he’d need to watch the bag and wear his glove so his hand wouldn’t let go.
Now Rachel has learned over the years about the surgery her father underwent soon after she was born. She knows about the biweekly doctor’s appointments, physical therapy for his nerves and an array of pain medications. She knows about the good days when Scott’s entire left side is on fire, and the bad days when it also burns like ice and curls his toes.
After growing up experiencing firsthand the effects of family health crises, Rachel is studying full-time at the Center of Academic Achievement, forgoing a typical high school senior year to pursue both the Biotechnology and Medical programs. As the first person to study in both programs in CAA history, Rachel will gain research and clinical experience vital to her ambition of becoming a pediatric oncologist.
...
Scott says it started with a numb left arm. He didn’t think it was a big deal — sometimes limbs fall asleep at night. But when all feeling came back except the sensation in his finger pads, he started to worry.
Maybe it was all the key commands he typed? Scott wondered if he had developed carpal tunnel syndrome from his job as a graphic designer. He started workers’ compensation and began seeing a chiropractor, hoping to pinpoint a pinched nerve.
Two years later, a friend doing residency at the Cleveland Clinic suggested Scott schedule an MRI. When he got the scan, the doctors found an egg-sized cyst in his right temporal lobe. Within the week, he underwent a biopsy, expecting to be back to work in 10 days.
But while he was under, Scott had a severe hemorrhage in his thalamus — the informational relay station in the brain.
“I woke up and I couldn’t feel a thing on my left side,” Scott said. “There was a severe hemorrhage. Long story short, the hemorrhage caused a permanent lack of fine motor skills. So it’s like I had a stroke.”
Scott could no longer play guitar. He could no longer type, which was critical for his job. Five years later, he was forced to take long-term disability at his work.
Scott says that when Rachel and her brother were little, they would say they were becoming neurosurgeons to figure out a way to make their dad’s condition better. Shepard, now a sophomore, is leaning towards an engineering track. But Rachel? She’s been set on medicine for most of her life.
…
Throughout elementary school, Rachel was mainly drawn to becoming a nurse, like her aunt, who works at Children’s Mercy. But the summer going into eighth grade, Rachel’s grandmother, Trish Hughes, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She passed away in February 2023.
“The doctor told her, ‘You’re 75, you’ve lived a good life. The survival rate is like 4%,’” Rachel said. “He didn’t really try with her, and that was very frustrating to me, because as a doctor, your job is to help people.”
It didn’t seem right — even if the odds were poor, Rachel felt like the doctor should give the patient a fighting chance. Inspired to treat cancer patients with more attention and optimism, Rachel gained an interest in becoming an oncologist. And because of a passion for nannying, she narrowed it down to pediatrics.
“It could be one five-minute encounter of your day,” Rachel said. “But as a doctor, that five-minute encounter with a patient could change the trajectory of that patient’s life.”
In her sophomore year, Rachel took Exploring Medical Careers and learned about healthcare paths and medical terminology. After completing the class, Rachel was eligible to take Medical Health Science at the CAA, giving up three year-long electives her junior year to commit to learning more about health and the human body.
Medical Health Science teacher Kevin Stalsberg describes Rachel as being intelligent and curious in his classes — skills that lent naturally to the teaching methods of the program, according to Stalsberg. And Rachel loved the hands-on approach of the CAA, actively learning about different pathologies, body systems and sports injury mechanisms.
“It’s easy to be like, ‘I don’t want to go to AP US History, I don’t want to go to Calc BC, I don’t want to go to AP Physics,’ because it’s like you’re just sitting there,” Rachel said. “At the CAA, they do a really good job with any course of being hands-on and intentional.”
A few months into her time at the CAA, Rachel was having a conversation with Stalsberg about her future. After discussing the rising competitiveness of medical school admissions, Stalsberg mentioned the importance of research to help differentiate her medical school application — and suggested a novel idea. What if Rachel did both the Medical and the Biotech programs?
“I just said, ‘You need to do this,’” Stalsberg said. “‘You and your folks need to have a conversation with Dr. Lee and Mr. Barr to find out if this is actually doable, and it may actually put you in a better position long-term.”
To even get into Jed Barr’s class, Rachel would need to complete the CNA and Clinical Investigations application. The vetting process for the two-part course involves teacher recommendations, an interview and a personal statement. Half of the applicants are cut. But Rachel got in.
To Stalsberg’s knowledge, no student has ever combined both programs before. But after a prolonged eight-month process, Rachel got her schedule in the summer. This year, she’s at the CAA full-time — forgoing sport practices, cafeteria lunches and pep assemblies.
In biotech research, Rachel will work under Dr. Lee to produce a research paper over the year. She’s considering studying BPC-157, a peptide found in the stomach lining that helps heal muscle fibers. After completing her paper, Rachel aims to enter into the International Science and Engineering Fair.
In the spring, she’ll shadow at six different hospitals such as Saint Luke’s and Shawnee Mission Advent with Barr for Clinical Investigations class. Because she’s missing the CNA component of the class for research, Rachel’s earning her CNA certification through the Kansas College of Nursing in December.
“Basically every second grader tells you they want to be a doctor,” Davis said. “But it’s been really sweet to then do all this and realize this really is what I want to do.”
After high school, Rachel is applying to universities across the country, from Tulane to Creighton. Recently, she’s been considering doing MD-PhD after college, combining a love of research with a passion for medical practice.
As a pediatric oncologist, Rachel endeavors to treat every patient with patience, respect and earnest care. She knows firsthand how important those are when the worst happens to a family.
“I feel like it can often happen where doctors dismiss you as just another patient or just a checklist in their book,” Rachel said. “It’s really important for me [to strive] to create personal relationships and really give everything I can to each patient and make them feel seen.”
Leave a Reply