Ever since Alyssa Clements can remember, she’s wanted to be a doctor. Her father is a chiropractor in south New Jersey, and his business partner was Clements’ own doctor when she was younger.
“I grew up hanging out in their office,” Clements said. “My father’s patients always felt like part of our family. I always imagined myself being able to treat the patients I grew up with.”
Clements never considered any other career. Everything she did was a step toward medical school. She worked hard in high school and college and got straight As. But when the now 28-year-old finally started at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2013, she was surprised to find herself struggling. She was exhausted all the time and her whole body hurt.
The first doctor she saw suggested it was anxiety due to the rigors of medical school. Clements duly tried the antidepressants he prescribed. They did nothing to help her symptoms.
