Physician Interview: Dr. Ezra Yu, Internal Medicine Resident

Ezra Yu, DO, Internal Medicine PGY-2 at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, sat down with Student Advisory Council member Alexander Salas to share his non-traditional path to medicine and discuss the breadth of internal medicine, his interest in critical care, and the challenges and rewards of patient care.

Below is an excerpt from the interview with Dr. Ezra Yu, with minor edits for clarity.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Dr. Ezra Yu: I’m a second year internal medicine resident at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. My path to medicine definitely was a non-traditional one. Growing up, (I was) definitely interested in the sciences, but not definitely set on a career in medicine. Volunteered a couple different places throughout high school. It wasn’t just all hospital work. Volunteered in animal shelters, in agricultural kind of fields, office work for International Ministries, but also did have definitely hospital volunteer experience as well.

During college, I was a science major, but kept my eyes and path open to different fields. Thought about pharmacy, thought about wet lab research. Ultimately, what drew me to medicine was just the combination of science as just well as humanism, interpersonal relationships and an intercultural awareness and sensitivity that I think you don’t really find in lots of other fields.

So I had applied out of senior year of college. Had to reapply again. Took some post-bacc classes in between. Worked in the healthcare industry, pharmaceutical industry, for a few years, but eventually found my way towards medicine. And so I definitely look at every step of the way as kind of being necessary for my path. And so even though my path didn’t necessarily look like others, and for this audience, which I’m guessing is a lot of people who use the Student Doctor Network, I think you guys have seen a lot of ways to kind of skin the proverbial cat. And so I’m definitely someone who took my time towards medicine, but definitely know where I’m supposed to be, and that’s here. And so definitely enjoying it. You guys might see the circles under my eyes. Definitely lots of early mornings, late nights. I actually just finished cross covering the ICU this weekend, but I’m having a lot of fun, and definitely, I’m definitely where I’m meant to be.

(It) definitely sounds like you had a lot of interesting and unique experiences. Why did you choose the medical school you attended?

Yeah, of course, you know I think everything happens for a reason.

Those of you that might be in the process of applying, or just starting to get ready to apply, the first thing I would encourage everyone to do is cast a wide net. It is just, to be stark about it, a increasingly competitive field. Even as we are opening up more medical schools, we are having more people applying.

Ultimately, why I chose A.T. Still University, the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, is one: they accepted me. You gotta be accepted to the school be able to go. But two: I’m going to my multiple mini interview there, joining the campus and getting a chance to really talk to faculty. I really feel like the school’s mission and focus on the underserved was something that resonated with my own background and goals. I volunteered at a federally qualified health center during college. I myself come from an underprivileged immigrant family background, and so dedicating to medicine and what I wanted to do towards (helping) people who may be less fortunate than me was really something that resonated with me about A.T. Still University.

I had the chance to not only tour the campus, but to get to meet my fellow classmates, one of the other interviewees in my MMI group interview also actually turned out to be my best friend in med school too. I didn’t know at the time that he was going to go there, but (he was) someone who I had a feeling like had a good chance (of) going to go there too. (That) was something that happened (as an) interview group – you really get a good sense of this, (who your) classmates will be with during during your interviews.

And it turns out that these are the people who helped get me through the COVID years of med school, the third and fourth years, where you start to go into your rotations. And so it was a mix of things. One, the acceptance, two the mission, and then three, the the classmates.

I’ll kind of add to that, the faculty that we have kept me grounded, (they) really believed in me through some academically and personally tough times in med school. So looking back, you never know how the the the cards will fall, but they turned out very well in this particular case, and so very, very grateful to have attended A.T. Still.

Why did you choose Internal Medicine?

Internal medicine combines so many parts of medicine that (I) was interested in. I love the idea of being able to do a differential diagnosis and think through and mentally exercise what a patient might be dealing with. I love the fact that you have the opportunity to sub-specialize in things like cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology. I’m in the ICU right now. So pulmonology, critical care, is one of the options that internal medicine internists have to sub-specialize in, and that’s been really, really interesting, too.

I like the intellectual aspect of it, as well as the career flexibility for the people who just stay as general internist. You have hospital list positions, you have clinic, you can go do teaching faculty – so many different ways. I know I’ll get an internist that works in assisted living facilities as a medical director. I know internists who have gone in to do wound care for the community, and for me, hoping to pursue medical missions one day, I think Internal Medicine provides a really good background to be able to approach and be comfortable with dealing with a wide variety of disease.

So Internal Medicine definitely has that breadth. I would say family medicine is very similar in the sense too. One of the challenges for me, (as I) thought through my career was (that) I also enjoyed working in hospitals, and internal medicine, we’re a very inpatient heavy residency. Like my intern year alone, I had like six or about seven months of inpatient wards, which really do prepare you very well to work in a hospital setting. Ultimately, that was something that pulled me towards this field.

I think Family Medicine does provide inpatient settings too, and even actually within the Army…But for me, internal medicine does provide that outpatient setting too. We get every four weeks a week in clinic where we are working in an outpatient setting.

We also do have a very heavy inpatient focus, which I really enjoy, in the hospitals industry and hospitalist groups are really popping up. You know, all over the nation, most hospitals are staffed by a hospitalist group. And so that’s been a field that I’ve definitely thought about going into.

And so I definitely considered Family Medicine and Med-Peds. Pediatrics…unfortunately, the Army does not have (much of) that. So internal medicine really provided the best fit personally for me, and so for all of you guys, I would encourage you to not to go into a field because of the money or because the prestige, but because you feel like it’s the best fit for you. And that’s how it was. Internal Medicine was (it) for me.

Being in the armed forces: Are there any additional responsibilities that you may or may not need to incorporate into your daily schedule, or is it pretty typical (for all residents)?

I myself am an active duty soldier, within the Troop Command and student attachment of the hospital. We do have soldiers that come in through the hospital in our service…Lots of the soldiers we (treat) are in the process of deploying. Soldiers have to stay physically and medically fit for their duties. So responsibilities and things I have to keep in mind is that whatever happens to a soldier, in the hospital, and what their outcomes were, have to be communicated to their command. The people that are overseeing them once they discharge, these people are going to want to know, is this soldier continuing to be fit for duty? Are they able to deploy? If they’re not, what kinds of restrictions need to be made?

I think, Alex, you might be familiar with the term profile, (which means) what kind of things should they be restricted from doing, like certain exercises, from the PT test, are they able to deploy to certain environments? Are they able to operate certain equipment or machinery? And these are things that you don’t get a good sense for in medical school, because we learn different diseases, like what kind of meds people need to be on, maybe some outcomes. But specifically, as it relates to the military, we don’t learn what a helicopter mechanic does, you know? We don’t learn what a soldier in infantry, how many pounds he has to carry in his rucksack, or how many miles he’s expected to do each day in a ruck march.

And so not only in residency, do I learn treating disease, but we learn a lot about soldiers and the units that they fall under, (and) the expectations from command. So that’s been a really, really enriching part of my education too, because one of the reasons I joined the Army was to serve soldiers and serve veterans too, but physically being active duty, that is one of the main differences I have, as compared to maybe a civilian counterpart.

What qualities have led you to being successful in your current role?

I think definitely being persistent. I think a lot of things you guys hear in school and your interviews is distance traveled, slash grit – (it) is just life experience. I think definitely being willing to put the nose down to the grindstone and work has been one. I think being a team player has been huge, not only for getting through the curriculum of school, but in this current role, you’ve got to be a team player to succeed in residency.

More tangent(tially) to the question…my personal faith is has definitely gotten me through the tough times of school, (and) also some of the tough situations and residency. So those all kind of play together and to help (you) get through, get through the grind. Because residency is a grind. It’s fun, but there’s no getting around it. It’s tough, too.

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This interview was conducted by Alexander Salas, a member of the Health Professional Student Association Student Advisory Council. In addition to conducting interviews, SAC members help guide the development of new tools and projects for the Student Doctor Network.

Applications are currently being accepted for the 2025-2026 council. To apply, you can send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you want to join to [email protected].