EMT, doula work shaped her road to medical school
A first responder at the height of the pandemic, Leah LeClair navigated two application cycles before becoming a doctor.
Editor’s note: Leah LeClair matched with Virginia Commonwealth University Health on Match Day.
“I was one of those kids who always knew they wanted to be a doctor,” said Leah LeClair ’19 ’26 (MD). In elementary school, she created an interactive model of the human body for a science fair and loved visits to the pediatrician before she could pronounce the word.
But her dream to become a doctor didn’t go as initially planned.
A native of Durham, North Carolina, LeClair followed her early passion to Carolina, studying biology in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences as an undergraduate. Research experience through a paid work-study position in cancer prevention scientist Temitope Keku’s lab helped solidify her path.
LeClair loved working in the lab but also realized she wanted to work directly with patients. As a senior, LeClair trained to be a volunteer doula with UNC Birth Partners to accompany patients through pregnancy, labor and delivery.
“As a doula, your main role is to provide emotional and physical support,” she said. “Emotional support can look different for every patient. Through that work, you learn how to read a room and work with everyone individually.”
Her first delivery –– on Halloween 2018 –– stands out in her memory. “Witnessing the moment of mom meeting her baby for the first time was very emotional,” she said.
The experience reinforced LeClair’s goal to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology, an interest she credits to an introductory women’s and gender studies class.
Change of plans
After graduating from Carolina in May 2019, LeClair began a planned gap year. She served as a Wake County EMT while completing her medical school applications.
Then, the pandemic hit, and LeClair found herself on the front lines of COVID-19 care.
“I felt very grateful to be working during that time, but it came with challenges,” she said. “At first, testing felt limited, and exposure was unknown. We’d work 24-hour shifts and would still try to socially distance from co-workers. I remember taking naps in the station with a mask on because that’s what the rules were.”
She submitted her application to medical school in hopes of starting in fall 2020. Over time, though, she realized that timeline might not hold.
“I wasn’t getting many interviews,” she said. “I got waitlisted at Carolina but ultimately didn’t get in. I took that news with acceptance and said, ‘OK, what can I do moving forward?’”
LeClair served for two more years as an EMT, sharpening her patient-facing skills, gaining confidence in emergency medicine and restarting her application and study schedule with renewed resolve.
“I didn’t know if, emotionally, I could have handled a third application cycle. I really put my all into it,” she said.
She earned six interviews the second time around, including one with the UNC School of Medicine. On March 15, 2022, LeClair got the call: She would be a double Tar Heel and doctor.
“I was so excited that I drove from Raleigh to Chapel Hill, went to the UNC Student Stores and bought a UNC School of Medicine T-shirt,” she said. “Then, I drove to my mom’s house in Durham and surprised her.”
Now a fourth-year medical student, LeClair is preparing for Match Day when she will learn where she will complete her OB-GYN residency.
“My dream is that Match Day is a day of reflection and realizing how far I, and all my classmates, have come,” she said.
