A prescription for success from WSU’s youngest new M.D.

While most college students her age are finishing undergraduate studies, at 21, Ola Hadaya marched across the Fox Theatre’s stage on May 16 as the youngest new physician to receive an M.D. from WSU’s School of Medicine.

For Hadaya, age has always just been a pesky number.

Suffice to say, she works quickly. After skipping the third, fifth and sixth grades, Hadaya found herself in high school with peers three years her senior.

At 15, Hadaya entered Rutgers University-New Brunswick, where she completed an undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern studies while minoring in biology. At 17, she was admitted into WSU’s School of Medicine.

“I think it’s all about willing to learn and put yourself out there, especially if you are younger,” Hadaya said “I think that by being proactive and wanting to learn, I’ve counterbalanced what experience I may not have in years.”

Reflecting on the challenges she’s faced, Hadaya took the time to offer up some advice for students seeking success.

1. Never give up

“When I know I want to do something, I know I want to do it,” Hadaya said.

When Hadaya began looking into medical school, the process was challenging due to pushback regarding her age. She was denied letters of recommendation because of concern that she was too young.

“It’s frustrating because you have to constantly prove yourself to doubters because of your birth year, but in a way, you do grow from it because in the end you’re like ‘Ha! I did it!'” Hadaya said. “It’s more satisfying in the end, but it’s frustrating. You can’t get a degree in maturity; that doesn’t exist, that’s harder to prove.”

Despite being encouraged to take a year off, Hadaya applied broadly and found institutions that believed her when she said she was ready.

“I feel like Wayne State accepted me with an open mind,” Hadaya said. “They didn’t immediately have restrictions or their own interpretations, which I liked. It’s nice fighting an uphill battle sometimes because it’s rewarding, but you don’t always want to be. You want people to approach you unbiased.”

2. Find what works for you

When studying, Hadaya believes repetition is key. She found she learned information better by reiterating it over and over to herself.

“You can read a book in so much detail, and you will forget it the next day,” Hadaya said. “You’ll think, ‘What’s going on? How did this happen? Is there some kind of drain in my brain that got unplugged?' But, it’s all about repetition.”

However, she warns that studying all of the time is a sure-fire way to get burnt out. Hadaya said the best thing to do is to find what works best for you.

“Some people like study groups, others like different things,” Hadaya said. “You basically have to try it out. Not every subject will be the same."

From her perspective, students seem to end up in niches where they’re comfortable.

“You end up where you belong, where you kind of fit in,” Hadaya said. “If you spend all day studying and you’re an overachiever, you’ll probably end up with a group of similar people. Whereas, if that’s not so important to you, you’ll probably end up in the same way. That’s not bad or negative, but I feel like you do end up where you belong, and once you realize what kind of person you want to be and how you study, you find that.”

3. Don’t overthink, find balance

Hadaya said it is easy for her to say this now, but she wishes she could go back in time and tell herself not to fret so much over small details.

“In the end, you don’t remember those,” Hadaya said. “I remember thinking, ‘No, that’s a 3.85. It should be a 3.87!’ and stuff like that.”

She believes things tend to work out on their own in the long-run, but finding balance is imperative.

“You can’t sacrifice the present for the future and you can’t sacrifice the future for the present.” Hadaya said. “You have to enjoy life at all times, because you never know how things will play out. It’s important to enjoy the present while preparing for the future.”

Hadaya said she has learned life is about living, despite the struggles that can occur.

“Find balance,” Hadaya said. “Don’t forget who you are with all the studying that happens and the intensity and the burnout that might happen. Remember the basic reasons why you’re doing things. I think if you combine all those, that’s the best thing.”

4. Passion and support will keep you going

“For medicine, don’t do it for the money because that’s changing a bunch,” Hadaya said. “That applies for any career choice. Do it because you have a passion for it.”

From Hadaya’s perspective, passion is what will make you want to keep doing something for the rest of your life.

“Things are always changing, but passion rarely does,” she said.

Hadaya’s father and mother, a doctor and a mechanical engineer, respectively, introduced her to science at a young age, taught her skills outside of school and coaxed her interests into passions.

If someone told Hadaya she was too young, her parents would always reiterate the following: “Ignore them, because you know what you want and you know who you are.”

Now, Hadaya is happy she is doing something she loves.

“I’ve always liked the humanity aspect of it [science], even now I don’t get jaded with my patients,” Hadaya said. “Health has a huge impact. It’s something that people take for granted, but once it’s gone it’s a huge thing.”

Hadaya has just begun an OB-GYN residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School on her home turf, New Jersey.

“Medicine [is something] I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid and an OB-GYN I’ve wanted to be even before I got to medical school,” Hadaya said. “I like women’s health. I like the privilege of being able to take care of two lives at a time… It’s so varied. You can do surgery, you can do clinical, you can do deliveries and you can do further specializing with fellowships. There’s just so much to do and I love it.”

For more information, contact features editor Aleanna Siacon at aleannasiacon.tse@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @AleannaSiacon