issue Community Health 2025

Beyond the Pause

By Dawn Rhodes

Stephanie Moss, MD, PGY-1 Psychiatry, hit an unexpected roadblock in medical school. It was an experience that changed her approach to medicine. Originally from Colorado, Dr. Moss was pre-med at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She and her husband moved to Chicago to attend Rush Medical College in 2019. Then, the pandemic hit.

Dr. Moss started suffering physically due to the stress. She struggled with block exams, fell behind her cohort and had a tough time with Step 1 practice exams. She took a leave of absence at the end of her second year in 2021.

“It was horrible,” Dr. Moss said. “At the beginning, I did not know anyone else who was taking a leave of absence, so I felt very alone. It was very demoralizing.”

She pushed herself to keep studying for Step 1 but ultimately failed that exam. She chose to take a step back, continue therapy, and refocus on hobbies and community activism. She took up dancing again, taught fitness classes and started a homelessness advocacy group in Chicago.

Now a first-year psychiatry resident at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Dr. Moss said it was important to learn “how to pause — whether that pause is not always wanted or expected” when she returned to medicine after a year.

“I incorporate that pause as a psychiatry resident, especially when I have challenging situations, like where I have patients who are in a psych crisis, and I don’t know initially how to handle it,” Dr. Moss said, adding that knowing she is not alone in these situations and can count on the support of her team, even when she is the leader, is also important.

Dr. Moss began opening up about her experiences by starting a blog; writing about the stigma of mental health for MedPage Today, where she discussed Simone Biles stepping away from Olympic competition to protect her mental health; and launching a podcast, “Life as a Patient-Doctor.” She talks with physicians, fellow students, and healthcare workers about their careers, navigating medicine through physical and mental health challenges, and advocating for people from marginalized backgrounds.

“I realized how important it was to share my experience with others,” Dr. Moss said. “Through sharing it, I found that I wasn’t alone, and other people didn’t feel alone. It’s so important to share that there’s not one type of med student or doctor. I want to show what diversity really means, and what humanity and healthcare providers can be.”

Dawn Rhodes is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She’s worked in journalism for more than a decade.