I hated so much of medical school.

Not all of it.

I started eager,
positive and bright.
I was excited.

But I struggled to belong.

There was unwritten, informal
segregation.

Fresher’s week:
I was stoked to try out new things…
Hockey and rowing turned me away—
lack of experience.

I tried something more familiar:
Hindu society.
I was shocked—
they asked me what caste I was from.

It was even in the lecture theatre:
white rugby at the back,
serious Asians at the front,
party Asians in the middle,
cool white on the right.

I didn’t know where to sit.

It sounds ridiculous,
but it’s the truth.

That floor plan didn’t change
for six years,
templating how most students socialised.

I tried to go against the grain,
but so many students looked straight through me.

I didn’t talk like them,
drink like them,
dress like them,
or ski like them.

Eventually,
I found a place
where my background didn’t matter.

Muay Thai boxing club.

Every Wednesday afternoon,
in a sweaty gym,
I learnt to fight—
not just physically.

Strength, defence,
assertiveness, alertness,
expression.

I felt empowered,
transported—
away from elitism,
away from snobbery.

For too long, I believed
I didn’t belong,
that I got into medical school
because of a diversity quota.

It’s only decades later,
having fought my way
through the medical world,
through thick circles of privilege,
nepotism,
prejudice,

that I know better.

I know I deserve my successes.
I know I earnt my place.

I know that I’ve always had that
Muay Thai fighting spark.

And I made it through—
through the stereotyping,
the systemic biases.

So if you’re reading this,
and you’re somewhere that makes you feel
out of place,
not enough,

don’t automatically assume
that something isn’t right about you.

Question it.
Challenge the system,
the environment.
Fight it.

Because they’re the ones
who aren’t ready enough
for YOU—
everything you are,
everything you have to give,
everything you are going to be.

Seema Pattni is a physician coach.