Elinor Grage is an aspiring pathologist. 
Three years after completing her Fulbright experience as an English Teaching Assistant in the Czech Republic, she is approaching medical school graduation and preparing for residency in pathology. Although her professional journey has taken her from theater to medicine, one thing has remained constant: her passion for teaching. In 2023, Elinor brought her theatrical background into the English classroom at the Catholic High School in Odry, discovering how naturally acting, teaching, and language learning complement one another. Today, as she looks back on her Fulbright year, she reflects on how it continues to shape her professional ambitions. From leading acting workshops in Czech schools to organizing hands-on medical outreach activities for American high school students, Elinor has kept her educator side very much alive. And as she prepares for her medical career, she is grateful for the skills and perspectives gained in a small Czech town that will continue to influence the doctor she hopes to become.
Just ten days after returning to the United States from the town of Odry in the Czech, I started medical school (my picture from the matriculation ceremony in July 2023 is featured above). Now, over three years later, with graduation around the corner, I’m interviewing for pathology programs around the country. Pathology is an interesting field in medicine; it isn’t patient-facing in the traditional sense. Instead of rounding on patients and performing physical exams, we look at 4–5-micron slices of their biopsies and excisions under the microscope. Pathologists often answer the question: is this cancer, or is it benign? 
I didn’t know what pathology was when I started medical school but was quickly exposed in my first months of medical school when we looked at normal tissue while learning the basics of anatomy. I fell in love. The main stains used are hematoxylin and eosin, a hot pink and bright purple combo reminiscent of Barbie’s dreamhouse. I was a theater major in college and was overjoyed to find a specialty that combined my passions for both the arts and sciences.
Teaching as an ETA in the Czech Republic was also an experience combining the science and arts. I taught at a unique high school that trained students to either become kindergarten teachers or nursing assistants. There were days when my nursing assistant students would practice their English as they taught me how to do basic procedures in their simulation labs or give me a tour of the hospital where they trained. There were other days where I used acting exercises in the classroom, and every week I hosted an arts and crafts club.
Often during interviews with residency programs, interviewers understandably ask, “why did you apply to our program?” For me, one of the most important things is that the program has teaching opportunities. Since coming back from the Czech Republic, I’ve kept the teaching skills I learned alive by participating in medical outreach events, and hope to continue that into residency and as a future attending physician.
For example, the summer after my first year of medical school, I joined my classmate Jordan, who was launching an annual summer “mini-medical school” workshop for local high schoolers at the Salvation Army’s Boys and Girls Club. We used cadaver organs to discuss the basics of anatomy, went through clinical cases, played games to practice the principles of medical ethics, and finished with a virus outbreak simulation. After a long first year of intense exams, it was amazing to teach again. I loved getting the next generation excited about careers in medicine and showing all that I had learned in school.
By the next spring, I gathered half a dozen classmates to do another anatomy workshop at a local high school during the school year. Later, an abstract I wrote about this event was accepted at a national conference and even won a prize!
I’m so excited to start training to be a pathologist this July, and I continue to be so grateful for the teaching skills and world perspective I developed as an English Teaching Assistant. I can’t wait to see how my year abroad continues to influence my future career, and how I can inspire the next generation of medical professionals.
Note: Read also Elinor’s earlier blog post about her Fulbright experience in the Czech Republic and how she introduced Czech students to basic theatre techniques HERE.