Lana Schommer, M.D., M.A.

Four years ago, Lana Schommer was a kindergarten teacher. Today, she’s a doctor prepared to wield her expertise as an educator to advocate for parents and babies — and is a new mother herself.

Schommer witnessed firsthand the flaws of the health care and education systems through both her medical education and pregnancy.

The result? She pursued a Master of Arts in design focused on health during her third year at Dell Med — gearing up to systemically address gaps in a human-centered and empathetic way, beginning with her residency at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.

Why OB-GYN?

I fell in love with the community-centered aspect. You have patients from different socioeconomic status and ethnic groups, but you're also treating people who are inherently undertreated in the medical system.

You get to talk to and educate your patients a lot, around “taboo” subjects like sex and pleasure. There's a lot of education still missing in obstetrics and gynecology, and so many potential areas to empower young adults who identify as women. Our society does a very bad job of teaching us about our bodies, and our current sex ed curriculum only emphasizes avoiding negative outcomes.

What is one of your greatest accomplishments?

I am very proud of myself for having gone through the entire residency application, fourth-year cycle, interviews and then matching — all being very pregnant and immediately postpartum.

What advice do you have for younger medical students?

Follow and hold onto your passions. The things you're passionate about make you unique. Your dream career, and every decision leading up to it, will make more sense if it's something you're passionate about.

Which literary character do you most admire?

Mark Watney from Andy Weir’s “The Martian.” Even though he was completely alone and had every reason to just give up and let himself die, he kept problem-solving — and he does it with a big sense of humor. That's the energy I'm trying to channel right now.