Paying it forward

Things could have gone terribly wrong for Yujin Oh, M.D., when his car broke down while driving to his interview at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, but instead, the opposite occurred.  

Oh, ’18, says everyone was very accommodating and understanding — and it contributed to the overall “good vibes” he got from everyone at the school, which ultimately helped him decide to attend OUWB.

“The people were great,” he says. “Everyone was very welcoming. I just got really good vibes.”

Today, Oh is all about paying forward what he gained from his OUWB education and experiences.  

He pays it forward to the patients he treats at a Beaumont outpatient family medicine clinic in Farmington Hills called Living Well Primary Care.

He pays it forward to current medical students. In late 2021, he was appointed to OUWB’s clinical faculty. He recently started volunteering as a supervisor at OUWB’s Student-Run Free Clinic at the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic in Pontiac.

He’ll pay it forward to future medical students, too. In about a month, he begins a four-year commitment to a group of incoming first-year medical students through OUWB’s mentoring program.  

He says he enjoys giving back and that he can do so in these various ways, in large part, thanks to OUWB.

“I’m very happy that I was able to go to OUWB for med school,” he says. “I wouldn’t have become the same doctor I’ve become if it wasn’t for all of the people I’ve met along the way…just being surrounded by like-minded colleagues who are talented in many different aspects as well as compassionate and willing to serve the community.”

‘Really good vibes’

Oh was born in East Lansing and moved to South Korea when he was very young. After growing up there, he came back to the U.S. and attended University of Miami - Florida, where he earned an undergraduate degree in biology.

He took two gap years between completing his undergraduate work and starting medical school. Much of the time was spent working as an English teacher at a private institute in South Korea.

Oh says he can’t recall a specific incident that made him want to be a doctor. Rather, he says, he’s always had a general feeling about the importance of serving people.

On the interview trail for med school, Oh says he was particularly impressed by “the atmosphere and the people” of OUWB.

“It was one of the best, if not the best, interview experiences I had during my medical school interview trail,” he says.

He started medical school at OUWB in 2014.

Oh (center) with the members of his PRISM group. He will mentor the students for the next four years. (Photo by Rob Hall)

Great exposure, experience at OUWB

In looking back at his time at OUWB, Oh calls it “an amazing experience.”

“Some people say med school is the most stressful time, but I’m not exaggerating when I say it represented some of the best years of my life,” he says.

Oh took advantage of the opportunities OUWB affords students to get involved.

He was one of the founding members of DocAppella and Spinal Chords — a music-based student organization that sings regularly at commencement, at Beaumont during the holidays, and has even sung the National Anthem at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.

“We had a good group of friends in my class that were talented musicians,” he says. “So, we thought why not do something that we can use to serve the community?”

Oh also took advantage of the opportunity to volunteer at the OUWB Student-Run Free Clinic in Pontiac.

“Most people going into the profession of medicine believe in serving the community and serving people in need — and that should be at the center of everything we do,” he says. “I don’t think there are too many things that are better for medical students than the opportunity to volunteer at a free clinic. You get great exposure and experience. Even all my friends who weren’t going into primary care all had great things to say about their experiences with the Student-Run Free Clinic.”

Another big opportunity Oh took advantage of was to do an away elective at Yonsei University College of Medicine in South Korea.  Yonsei is an affiliate school of OUWB.

During the last part of his time at OUWB, Oh went back-and-forth between psychiatry and family medicine. He ultimately went with the latter.

“It was a tough decision, but I really enjoyed general medicine and knew that by going into primary care, I would still be exposed to plenty of psychiatry and mental health issues,” he says.

Looking ahead

On Match Day 2018, Oh matched at what is now Beaumont Hospital, Wayne.

“One of the reasons I chose Beaumont, Wayne is because it serves one of the most underserved, underprivileged communities around metro Detroit,” he says. “That was a great part of my training.”

He was a resident there until 2021, when he joined Living Well Primary Care. Oh says his dream is to one day open his own practice.

Concurrently, he is increasing his involvement with OUWB. In late 2021, he was appointed to clinical faculty in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

“I applied as soon as I graduated residency because I always wanted to work with students at OUWB,” he says.

To that end, he’ll soon begin a four-year commitment as a PRISM mentor to the Class of 2026.

PRISM — an acronym for Promoting Reflection and Individual Growth through Support and Mentoring — provides a multi-layered system of support, along with a four-year curriculum that focuses on personal growth, wellness, and career development. Monthly sessions create opportunities for reflections and small group discussion.

“PRISM sessions, especially later on (in medical school), are one of the few times where you get to see your classmates again and just kind of decompress,” he says. “It’s always stress-free, and I always had a good time. I’m excited to be a mentor.”