OSU Student Doctor of the Year believes she's on the right path

Friday, April 4, 2025

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Senior Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

For fourth-year Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine student Emily Sowah, taking the non-traditional path to medical school has made all the difference for her future.

“Being the first in my family to pursue a degree in medicine, I largely had to figure it out on my own, so I did take a few gap years,” Sowah said.

During that time, she worked as a medical scribe in the emergency department at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. 

“I was able to gain mentors and learn what the health care world was like,” she said. “They helped me understand what medical school would be like, how best to stand out to be a good applicant, and, using what they taught me and their resources, I was able to apply to medical school, and here I am.”

For Sowah, ‘here’ is counting down the days until graduation on May 10 before starting a prestigious emergency medicine residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas — her No. 1 choice. And learning she was named the OSU DO Student Doctor of the Year.

Each year, every osteopathic medical school across the United States selects a student doctor of the year who then competes for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine National Student Doctor of the Year. At OSU, medical students are nominated, and then a Student Government Association selection committee chooses the OSU Student Doctor of the Year. 

“I was amazed because I know there are so many amazing people and students at school doing wonderful things. So, to see that I had been named OSU Student Doctor of the Year just meant a lot,” she said. “It means that everything I’ve been doing throughout my four years, and even before then, has been impactful. It just encourages me to keep doing what I’m doing and keep diving into my passions.”

One of her passions is helping patients navigate the health care system. Growing up with sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder she shared with her mother, Sowah was no stranger to hospitals and clinics. Her pediatric hematologist at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health in Oklahoma City took the time to help her understand her lab results and how she could improve her health.

“I found that pretty interesting and decided, ‘Hey, this is pretty cool. I think I’d like to do this for other people,’” she said. “As a fourth-year medical student, I’ve learned that not only do I want to help other people understand their own health journeys and their own lab work and why an illness came about and how to best prevent it in the future, I also really want to help minority communities understand what resources they need, places they need to go. Just get them plugged into any type of support because the health care world is pretty hard to understand. My mom and I, we faced that on our own, so I’d like to be able to help other patients in that way.”

Brenda Davidson, assistant dean of the Division of Access and Community Impact, has watched Sowah grow and thrive during her time at OSU-COM.

“Emily is truly an inspiring person, embodying everything one could hope for in a future physician. Her compassion, leadership and team-oriented spirit continues to uplift and support those around her,” Davidson said. 

Sowah has felt support since she first walked onto the OSU-COM campus during her gap years and attended a Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS) Conference.

“I just felt supported and encouraged by people who had no idea who I was. It let me know that if I came here for my medical degree, I would be supported throughout my whole four years here,” she said. 

Medical school is tough for everyone, but some of Sowah’s biggest challenges at OSU-COM were personal losses.

“During my first year of medical school I lost one of my really good friends, and then in my third year I lost my mom. But during this journey, the school has really helped me through it all. I feel like I wouldn’t have made it here to where I am as a fourth-year medical student without the support they gave me and showed me,” she said. 

Although it was rigorous and challenging, Sowah said she had a great time at medical school.

“I feel like OSU-COM gave me so many opportunities to do things like develop my leadership style and have global health experiences, things I don’t think I would have had at another medical school,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to come here and learn more about the passions I didn’t know I had and really get to dive deep into them and help others find those passions as well.”

Another passion Sowah developed while at OSU-COM was for global health. She completed the school’s Global Health Track and took part in multiple global medicine trips to Mexico, Nepal, Peru and Greece.

“Greece was amazing. We stayed and worked in the city of Athens, where we provided free health care for Iranian refugees. It was wonderful getting to work with translators and learn about the patients’ lives and experiences. I couldn’t help but feel thankful to be able to help them with their health care,” she said.

In addition to her global medicine work, Sowah has served as an OSU-COM Student Ambassador and SGA president, as well as the AACOM National Global Health Representative. She was one of 15 medical students selected nationally for the 2023 ElevateMeD Scholarship Program and received the 2024 William G. Anderson, DO, Minority Scholarship from the American Osteopathic Foundation.

Sowah said being recognized as this year’s OSU Student Doctor of the Year is just one more sign that she is exactly where she’s supposed to be.

“It means I am on the right path in this journey of mine, that I’m helping the people that I’ve been put on this earth to help. It really means a lot,” she said, and she’s looking forward to the future. 

“I’m trusting that this process will land me in the place I’m meant to be to help the people I’m meant to help and learn from the best people who will help me become the best physician and best person I can be.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9KJVN_i0-M​