Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacquelyn & Jessica Fields.
Hi Jacquelyn & Jessica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Jessica and I are sisters who have had the unique experience of pursuing medicine alongside one another, just at slightly different stages of the journey. We both grew up in Las Vegas and developed our interests in medicine through our own experiences, but having each other throughout the process has been such an important part of our story.
Jessica is now an OB/GYN resident at Northwestern, and I am a fourth-year medical student at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV pursuing diagnostic radiology, with a particular interest in breast imaging. Although our specialties and interests are different, we have always shared a passion for mentorship, representation, and helping other students see that there is a place for them in medicine.
That passion eventually grew into Medsistas, the social media platform we created together to document our journeys through medical school and residency. What started as simply sharing our experiences has grown into a community where we talk openly about the highs and lows of medical training, share educational resources, offer mentorship, and hopefully make the path into medicine feel a little less intimidating for the people coming behind us.
Outside of Medsistas, service and mentorship have become a major part of both of our careers. We have been involved in organizations and initiatives centered around supporting students in medicine, and I founded the Legacy of Excellence Soirée in Las Vegas to create opportunities for mentorship, networking, and scholarships for students from backgrounds that have historically been underrepresented in medicine.
Today, we are still very much in the middle of our own journeys, which is part of what makes sharing them so meaningful. Jessica is growing into her role as an OB/GYN physician, while I am preparing to apply for residency and take the next step toward becoming a radiologist. Through it all, our goal has remained the same: to be the representation and support that we would have loved to see when we were starting out, while showing that there is no single way to look, act, or be in order to belong in medicine.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road. Medicine is incredibly rewarding, but the path to becoming a physician comes with a lot of sacrifice, uncertainty, and moments of self-doubt. As first-generation medical students in our family, there was so much about the process that we had to learn as we went. From figuring out how to navigate medical school and residency applications to finding mentors and building a professional network, there were many times when we wished we had someone who had already walked the path to guide us.
Representation has also played a significant role in our experiences. There have been many rooms throughout our education where we were one of very few people who looked like us. Learning how to navigate those spaces while still remaining confident in who we are has been an ongoing journey. It is also one of the reasons mentorship and representation have become so important to both of us.
And, like most people in medicine, we have each experienced setbacks along the way. There have been exams that didn’t go the way we hoped, opportunities we didn’t receive, periods of comparison and self-doubt, and times when balancing medicine with our personal lives felt overwhelming. One of the biggest lessons we have learned is that your path does not have to be perfect to be meaningful or successful.
Having each other has made a huge difference. Because Jessica is a few years ahead of me in training, I have been able to learn from many of her experiences, but we also support each other in very different ways now that we are both navigating demanding stages of medicine. We celebrate each other’s wins, talk through the disappointments, and remind each other of the bigger picture when one of us gets caught up in the moment.
Those challenges have ultimately shaped so much of what we do today. They are why we try to be transparent through Medsistas rather than only showing the highlight reel. We want students coming behind us to know that struggling, changing course, or experiencing setbacks does not mean you don’t belong in medicine. Sometimes the parts of your journey that feel the most difficult while you’re living them become the very experiences that allow you to help someone else.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our work really exists at the intersection of medicine, mentorship, representation, and community. Professionally, we are at two different stages of our medical careers. Jessica is an OB/GYN resident at Northwestern, where she is training to care for women throughout some of the most important and vulnerable moments of their lives. I am a fourth-year medical student at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV and am currently applying to diagnostic radiology residency, with a growing interest in breast imaging and women’s health.
At the same time, one of the things we are most proud of is the work we have built together through Medsistas. We created our platform to share an authentic look at what becoming a physician actually looks like, from studying for board exams and applying to residency to celebrating Match Day and navigating life as a resident. Over time, it has become much more than a social media page. It has given us a way to mentor students, share resources, collaborate with organizations and brands we genuinely believe in, and connect with people across the country who are pursuing careers in healthcare.
What we are most proud of, though, is the impact that extends beyond social media. Mentorship and service have always been central to who we are. We have both held leadership roles in organizations dedicated to supporting students in medicine, and I founded the Legacy of Excellence Soirée in our hometown of Las Vegas to bring together students, physicians, and community leaders for mentorship, networking, and scholarship. Since its inception, the initiative has raised more than $20,000 in scholarship funding for medical students.
I think what sets us apart is that we don’t feel like we have to choose between being physicians and being all of the other things that make us who we are. We can be serious about medicine while also being sisters, mentors, content creators, advocates, and young women who enjoy fashion, travel, wellness, and life outside of the hospital. We want people to see that professionalism and authenticity do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Ultimately, whether it is through caring for patients, mentoring a student, creating a resource online, or building opportunities within our community, we want our work to make medicine feel more accessible, more representative, and a little less lonely for the person coming behind us.
How do you define success?
Our definition of success has definitely evolved throughout our journeys. When we were younger, success felt very achievement-based: getting good grades, getting into medical school, passing the next exam, matching into residency, and reaching the next milestone. Medicine can make it very easy to measure your worth by what is on your CV or how you compare to the person next to you.
As we have gotten further into our careers, we have realized that success is much bigger than any individual accomplishment. For us, success means building lives and careers that we are genuinely proud of while staying true to who we are in the process. It means becoming compassionate physicians, being present for the people we love, creating opportunities for others, and enjoying our lives rather than constantly postponing happiness until we reach the next milestone.
We also believe that success is not just about how far you go, but about what you do with the opportunities you have been given. If our careers allow us to open a door for someone else, mentor a student who doesn’t know where to start, advocate for a patient who needs someone in their corner, or make someone feel like they belong in a space they once thought wasn’t meant for them, that is success to us.
And as sisters, there is something especially meaningful about getting to watch each other grow while pursuing our own individual dreams. Our paths look different, and our goals are different, but we get to celebrate those milestones together.
Ultimately, success to us is not a title, a degree, or a destination. It is becoming people our younger selves would be proud of, building lives that feel fulfilling both inside and outside of medicine, and leaving the spaces we enter a little better than we found them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medsistas/#
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unlvsnma/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@medsistas?_t=ZP-8wYMps7mMv8&_r=1
