Pulling Back the Curtain
Laura C. Michaelis, MD
In this edition, Laura C. Michaelis, MD, talks about winding career paths
and the similarities between medicine and journalism. Dr. Michaelis
is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and
Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Laura C. Michaelis, MD, spending time with her dog,
watching the Cubs games with friends, and visiting the
Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, Scotland
What was your first job?
My very first job was babysitting
in high school; I used to have
a pretty robust babysitting
business, with five or six families
from the neighborhood. I
also sold hot dogs at the local
high school and at summer
league baseball games. I got
free hot dogs and developed an
unbelievable love for the game,
which I have to this day.
How did you decide to
pursue medicine as your
career?
I had a strange career path. Before
I thought about medicine as a
career, I worked as a full-time
reporter for about nine years.
In college, I was a history
major, and I was an editor on
the school newspaper. I also
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ASH Clinical News
interned at the Associated Press
and Foreign Policy magazine
in Washington, DC. After
college, I worked for the PBS
program “The MacNeil-Lehrer
NewsHour” in an internship
position. Then, I moved to
Chicago and worked for the
City News Bureau, where I
covered police and fire on the
overnight beat. After that, I
worked at the Los Angeles Times,
where I covered community
news, education, and even
some restaurant reviews for the
Orange County area.
Later, I earned my master’s
degree in journalism at
Northwestern University’s Medill
School of Journalism. After
graduation, I ended up covering
Congress for Congressional
Quarterly magazine, including
the first efforts at health-care
reform under the Clinton
administration, which turned out
to be my final project.
Around that time, a friend
of mine went back to school
to finish up the classwork she
needed to enter medical school.
I thought that sounded like a
cool idea. So, I decided to try
it by taking a night class in
chemistry. I loved it – so much
so that, when I got an offer to be
a beat reporter at a newspaper
in Albany, I turned it down. I
thought, “If I’m not going to take
this job, I should figure out if I
really want to be in journalism.”
When did you know
medicine was for you?
I quit my job at Congressional
Quarterly; took night classes
in biochemistry, organic
chemistry, physics, and biology;
and completed all of the
requirements to go to medical
school. During the day, I worked
at a bakery and as a temp at
various places – including the
Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
One of those temp assignments
was working as a secretary for
William Chin, MD, a professor
and Howard Hughes Medical
Institute investigator, who let
me work in his lab when I wasn’t
doing clerical work. That’s where
I first did polymerase chain
reaction testing and lab work.
Eventually, I applied to medical
school and got in.
I come from a medical family.
My father was a cardiothoracic
surgeon and my mother was
a nurse, which meant that my
September 2016