Send us a text Medical interpreter and educator Yuliya Speroff traces her path from a book-filled childhood in Siberia to high-stakes conversations in Seattle hospitals. She explains how medical interpreting in the U.S. often falls to interpreters juggling work for many different fields, how vicarious trauma can affect medical interpreters, and what it means to convey emotion faithfully—without theatrics. Along the way: a rare moment of acknowledgment that stayed with her, the car...

Send us a text Raised by Vietnamese parents who survived war, Tra Tran grew up believing that everything would be okay—but learning what that really means took her from New Mexico to the global stage and back again. She shares how generational resilience, privilege, and honesty shaped her work in refugee advocacy and self-discovery. In this conversation, she reflects on privilege, burnout, and rediscovering meaning through community-based advocacy with refugees in North Carolina through...

Send us a text From a teenager navigating a new life in Toronto to becoming Canada’s first African woman to hold a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the health sciences, Dr. Bukola Salami’s story is one of resilience, representation, and the transformative power of mentorship. In this episode, Dr. Salami joins host Dr. Duncan Reid to discuss her migration from Nigeria, how a high-school mentorship program changed her life, and the responsibility of mentoring the next generation. Her reflectio...

Send us a text Franky Erra grew up on Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands—an archipelago shaped by ocean, community, and a deep history of resilience. In this episode, Franky traces his path from a close-knit childhood surrounded by family and coral lagoons to his current role as a Disease Research and Intervention Specialist with Public Health – Seattle & King County TB Program. Through his story, we explore the Marshallese experience in America—from the legacy of U.S. nuclear te...

Send us a text In this moving episode of the Provider Pulse Series of the EthnoMed podcast, we hear the extraordinary life story of Jeniffer Huong — one of Harborview’s original Cultural Care Mediators in the Community House Calls Program, which now serves patients in eight different languages. Born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jeniffer’s early years were shaped by discipline, education, and family aspiration—until the Khmer Rouge forced her family from their home in 1975. She survived years of d...

Send us a text What does it really mean to find your why in medicine? In this episode, registered nurse Brandon Gim joins the EthnoMed Podcast Provider Pulse series to share his nonlinear journey—from growing up in a Korean immigrant family in South King County to finding meaning in community health and mentorship at Harborview. Brandon reflects on the pressures of expectation, the role of self-doubt, and how authentic mentorship helped him rediscover purpose in care. Together, we explore wha...

Send us a text This episode of Provider Pulse goes beyond clinical roles and takes you behind the scenes with Kenn Arning, Harborview’s longtime mail clerk and self-described ‘postal detective.’ For more than four decades, Kenn has sorted 5,000 pieces of mail a day, tracked down misdirected packages, and built connections across every department in the hospital. Kenn shares how his Quaker education, global travels, and passion for learning about people and the places they are from shaped his ...

Send us a text In this episode of the Provider Pulse Series, Dr. Duncan Reid sits down with Jefferson Nguyen, medical student at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Growing up in South Seattle as the son of Vietnamese refugees, Jefferson Nguyen never imagined that his path to medicine would be a straight line — because it wasn’t. In this candid conversation, Jefferson shares how a community health clinic shaped his early view of medicine, how he wrestled with identity and belongi...

Send us a text In this episode ofProvider Pulse, Dr. Duncan Reid sits down with Dr. Ethan Hua, faculty in Interventional Radiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Hua shares his journey from growing up as the child of Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants in Southern California to finding his way into medicine — a path that included an unexpected pivot from marine biology, a difficult first round of medical school applications, and eventually discovering interventional rad...

Send us a text We continue our Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to hear the paths people took to their current roles and how their life experiences shape the care they provide. In the second part of this two-part episode, we continue our conversation with Daniella Runyambo, co-executive director of Programs and Community Impact at the Refugee Community Partnership, we follow her journey into adulthood. Daniella reflects on her colle...

Send us a text We continue our Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to hear the paths people took to their current roles and how their life experiences shape the care they provide. In the first part of this two-part episode, we speak with Daniella Runyambo, Co-Executive Director of Programs and Community Impact at the Refugee Community Partnership in North Carolina. Daniella takes us back to her childhood in the Democratic Republic of C...

Send us a text We continue our Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to hear the paths people took to their current roles and how their life experiences shape the care they provide. In this episode, we speak with Alexandria Braithwaite,RN a nurse at the International Medicine Clinic. Alexandria shares her remarkable journey—growing up between cultures, moving frequently as a child, navigating code-switching from an early age, and e...

Send us a text In this episode of Provider Pulse, we continue our mission to elevate diverse voices from across healthcare, exploring the unique paths people take to their current roles. Our guest is Chelsea Ng, an incoming first year medical student whose path to medicine has taken her from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and Seattle. Chelsea reflects on the challenges of adapting to new cultures and classrooms, the doubts and homesickness she faced as an international college student, and the resi...

Send us a text In this episode of Provider Pulse, we continue our mission to elevate diverse voices from across healthcare, exploring the unique paths people take to their current roles. Our guest is JJ Bola—writer, poet, mental health social worker, and UNHCR Ambassador. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in London, JJ Bola shares his family’s journey as refugees, the uncertainty of his early career steps, and how he ultimately built a life that weaves together creativity, a...

Send us a text The next installment of the Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles. On this episode, we speak with Dr. Abdifitah Mohamed, an internal medicine resident at the University of Washington. Dr. Abdifitah Mohamed's journey began in Somalia where the loss of a loved one sparked his calling to medicine. From there, he pursued medical school in Sudan, advanced his training ...

Send us a text The next installment of the Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles. On this episode, we speak with Dr. Noga Rogel, an internal medicine resident at the University of Washington who is preparing to start a fellowship in rheumatology. Dr. Rogel reflects on how her childhood illness inspired her pursuit of a career in medicine, her decision to attend a medical school ...

Send us a text The next installment of the Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles in healthcare. On this episode, we speak with Dr. Kristine Cueva, an internal medicine resident at the University of Washington who is preparing to start a fellowship in pulmonary critical care at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Cueva reflects on our journey as a first generation Filipino American f...

Send us a text The next installment of the Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles in healthcare. On this episode, we speak with Dr. Edwin Wang, an internal medicine resident at the University of Washington who is preparing to start his gastroenterology fellowship at Cook County Health in Chicago. Dr. Wang reflects on his journey as an Asian American who spent formative year...

Send us a text The next installment of the Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles in healthcare. On this episode, we speak with Catherine Evangelista, an administrative specialist in the Community Prevention Unit at Public Health – Seattle & King County. A graduate of the University of Washington with a Bachelor's degree in Public Health, Catherine reflects on her identity as a Fil...

Send us a text The next installment of the Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to learn the paths people took to their current roles in healthcare. On this episode, we talk with Natalya Sarkisova, MPH an epidemiologist with the TB control program as Seattle King County Public Health. She reflects on her identity as an immigrant from Russia, the internalized pressure she felt to pursue a career in medicine, and dealing with reject...