As I sit in the physician workroom finishing up a busy hospital shift, I vividly remember the many years I hoped and dreamed for this career in medicine. When I started at the University of Minnesota as a premed undergraduate student studying genetics and cell biology in the College of Biological Sciences, I thought of little else besides my future in medicine; I was a woman obsessed.

At the University, my days were filled with microscopic studies of chromosomes, mitochondria, and deoxyribonucleac acid. As I studied the many ways in which our genetic foundation can move from health to illness, I had no idea my own DNA was mutating behind the scenes.

Back then, as a dewy-eyed young researcher, I regarded genetics from a comfortable distance. Genetics applied to data, lab mice, other people—people I wanted to help one day as a medical provider. I worked tirelessly to excel in my studies and immersed myself in rigorous, groundbreaking research at the U.

Eventually, though, I began to crave balance. Just as a DNA strand depends on the pairing of A with T and G with C, I craved “science with.” Fortunately, the University brought me ample opportunities to explore beyond my major. I joined the choral ensemble, spending afternoons singing with an expanded and largely non-science-focused group of peers. I immersed myself in French language classes in Folwell Hall, letting my brain shift from polymers to poetry. I also discovered my passion for travel, starting with a life-changing opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy.

I spent six weeks the summer before my senior year studying art history in the epicenter of it all. A course on the life and legacy of Michelangelo moved me from the classroom to the museum, where our group spent hours learning about his David while standing in front of it. I had desperately needed this shift in perspective—a reminder that my own genes were not meant to sit behind a desk, dreaming solely of a future career in medicine. My genes were meant to explore the world, to see the diverse ancestries and cultures that make our ever-growing and evolving globe of genes so beautiful.

I fell in love with Florence—the pasta, the pizza, the frescos, the sunsets from Piazza Michelangelo—all of it. This experience was a pivotal moment for me. On this first independent trip abroad, travel, not genetics, became the lens through which I discovered a passion for exploration and a confidence in my own ability to shift from the microscopic world of genes to the vast complexity of the world itself.

Looking back, I know with certainty that the University helped prepare me for a successful career in medicine. My opportunity to major in genetics and participate in top-tier research paved the way for acceptance to medical school and afterwards, to medical residency, where I trained to become a hospitalist.

A few years into my medical residency, my previous studies came in handy. A surprise brain tumor diagnosis moved the world of genetic mutations from the lab straight into my frontal lobe. My knowl- edge of genes helped me understand the logistics, but my knowledge of journeys helped me cope.

Just as our genes build our physical worlds, our journeys shape our mental worlds, creating an equilibrium crucial for the practice of medicine and the practice of life. Journeying from microscopic to macroscopic as a young student gave me the foundation I needed to see these varying perspectives, ones that help shift my view from grief to gratitude through cancer and the many other challenges of life.

Knowing the importance of balance—the need for music and science, poetry and photosynthesis, groundedness and adventure—has helped me find gifts amidst the difficulty this uncertain life brings.

Courtney Burnett (B.S. ’13) is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and a hospital medicine physician at HealthPartners. She is the award-winning author of the book Difficult Gifts: A Physician’s Journey to Heal Body and Mind.

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