Even though medicine shapes nearly every part of our lives, the complicated workings behind the science of life remain hidden behind simplified and often misdirected assumptions that discredit its meticulous nature.

News stories about doctors, new treatments, and medical breakthroughs populate the news, but what people are rarely given the chance to know is how that knowledge is built or what it actually takes to work in medicine.

As an aspiring medical student and physician, I want to make that process accessible to help bridge the gap by explaining the science, training, and decision-making behind modern healthcare in a way that is clear and honest.

The Science Behind It column explores healthcare through learning, including how medical knowledge is acquired, tested, and applied across different careers. My goal is not only to talk about emerging technologies or innovative procedures and medical education, but rather to translate this information into a digestible language that helps people understand the scientific processes behind them.

This conversation matters locally. Fullerton is home to students exploring careers in healthcare, families navigating complex medical systems, and a growing community of educators, researchers, and healthcare workers. Access to clear and reliable medical information empowers people to not only better understand the professionals and institutions that serve them, but also to understand the science for themselves. By grounding medical science in everyday language, my aim is to support a more informed and engaged Fullerton community.

My own understanding of medicine has been shaped through a conglomeration of my science coursework, clinical experiences working with patients, and hours spent in research laboratories. During my undergraduate career at UC Davis, I worked in a musculoskeletal research lab focused on cell and tissue culture, where I grew human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) cells and built tissue constructs from them.

I studied how different compounds and vitamins affected growth and collagen content. While this research may sound small in scale, it directly relates to tissue strength, injury recovery, and long-term joint health. Watching these microscopic changes in collagen translate into meaningful structural differences taught me how precise and time consuming medical research truly is.

More recently, I began working in a cancer research lab, where I have been exposed to cutting-edge research focused on DNA repair and cellular mechanisms that influence tumor growth and treatment response. Much of this work happens far from patients, yet it forms the foundation for future therapies. Experiments often fail, data must be interpreted cautiously, and progress is slow. Still, it is in these spaces that modern medicine quietly advances.

These experiences have clarified an important truth to me. Different careers in medicine require different kinds of learning, but all are rooted in evidence.

Physicians must understand disease mechanisms deeply enough to make high-stakes decisions with incomplete information. Researchers must learn experimental design, data analysis, and how to question their own assumptions. Nurses, physician assistants, and allied health professionals develop specialized expertise that bridges scientific knowledge with real-time patient care. What unites these paths is not textbook memorization, but fluency and knowing how to evaluate and apply information, not just absorb it.

Laboratory research plays a central role in this ecosystem. The diagnostics, treatments, and technologies we rely on today exist because of years of bench work involving cell culture, molecular assays, imaging techniques, and emerging tools that continue to reshape medicine.

Learning how to use these tools teaches rigor and attention to detail. This makes it possible to train future clinicians and scientists like myself to respect uncertainty rather than ignore or fear it.

Through this column with the science behind medical careers and research, I hope to broaden how we think about healthcare and our own bodies. Medicine is not confined to just exam rooms or operating theaters; it is built through countless experiments, lessons, and questions that precede patient care. Understanding that process allows all of us, whether patients or future practitioners, to engage with medicine more thoughtfully and with greater trust.