At the end of her first year of medical school, Josie Pearce, JD ’26, was studying for finals and prepping for the bar exam while also planning her wedding, which was strategically scheduled after the bar but before her second year of medical school.
“There was literally no other time to get married,” says Pearce, who, as a joint JD/MD candidate, is a rarity at Stanford. “I know it seems like now, looking back on all of this, that it was so perfectly planned out. Like, I just went to law school and then applied to med school and it all worked out. But the reality—it wasn’t like that.”
Growing up in Orange County, Pearce knew in fifth grade she wanted to be a lawyer. At 15, she was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic disease that causes an array of symptoms, from joint pain to rashes to debilitating fatigue. The high doses of antibiotics and immunosuppressant drugs prescribed by her doctors helped, but by 19, she grew worried about side effects. She decided to change to a plant-based diet and set a firm sleep schedule—lifestyle changes that returned much of her energy and allowed her to eliminate medications for a while.
After graduating from Dartmouth College, still set on law school, she realized that medical school might also benefit her career aims within health policy.
“In medical school, I get to have conversations with patients about changing diet and lifestyle,” she says. “I hope one day I can impact people on a much broader scale with health policy changes that will affect millions.”
“I always wanted to be a lawyer. I did not know I wanted to be a doctor. So, that was a surprise twist that came a bit later.”
“At 19, I was on antibiotics about seven times a year, which is insane, for bronchitis, ear infections, for all this stuff. I kept getting more infections due to the immunosuppressants I was taking. I told my doctors I wanted to change my diet. It took two years to get off anti-inflammatories completely.
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“I do think a large proportion of healthcare providers are comfortable putting people on medication for their entire life while not simultaneously having important discussions about lifestyle changes where they could potentially help. I have found this in my health care experience, and I know a lot of other people experience similar things.
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“I had taken almost zero science classes when I decided to apply to medical school. I was working in a Boston law firm as a legal assistant and then a public relations assistant while getting a post-bac at Harvard to get my premed requirements. It seems like people who have a law degree and want to work in health policy are lacking patient experience and, on the medical side of things, people seem to lack the understanding of our political and legal system. I was like, I want to be the person that can do both.
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“I hardly ever get flare-ups of lupus now. Maybe once a year, which is great. My lifestyle has pretty much stayed the same. People assume I just don’t sleep because of all the stuff that I’m doing, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I know that I could wake up tomorrow and have a major problem with no forewarning. Lupus can be fatal. But for people with controlled lupus, you can live a fairly normal life.”
Tracie White is a senior writer at Stanford. Email her at traciew@stanford.edu.
