Jessica Jagelski, MD: Investigating Healthcare
Jessica always knew she loved science. As a middle schooler, she went to Girls in Science (now known as
Investigators of Science) with her little sister, and she had so much fun that she briefly considered becoming a detective when she grew up. She loved exploring the mystery and figuring out how fictional Professor Potshard could return from a business trip as a zombie. Taking on his case, she determined he was poisoned by improperly prepared Fugu Pufferfish.
Looking back on this event, Jessica remembers being specifically fascinated by the tests that explored how toxins affect a person’s body. She says, “I do like kind of the pathways involved with toxins to this day. I think they're cool.” As a medical student, she chose to dive deeper into that type of science and did a case presentation about pepper spray and what receptors it binds to.
Clinical Rotations at Grande Ronde Hospital
But she’s found that there’s a lot about science that excites her, even more so when it comes to medicine. She just completed her last year of medical school, and even though she was an osteopathic student, she loved every one of the rotations that she did at the Grande Ronde Hospital. One of her favorites was rheumatology. “Doctor Jackson in La Grande just knew everything under the sun. And that's kind of what I like, being able to treat and know the whole body, which is what internal medicine is.”
She chose to do her rotations in La Grande because she’s from Ontario and was excited to be close to home again. “I did get a little teary-eyed when I was driving to my clinical rotation because it kind of was a homecoming for me.” During her time in town, she’s grown incredibly fond of the community and it has solidified her plan to practice in the area.
A Decision at MedQuest
She doesn’t know yet what her career will look like, but because of all her job shadowing and clinical experiences, she knows that she wants to work with patients directly, rather than in a lab.
Her first experience in healthcare was at MedQuest, where she shadowed radiology, ophthalmology, and orthopedic surgery. She thought she was going to like the radiologist the most, but she was surprised to find she liked the orthopedic surgeon more. c
On the day that she shadowed that surgeon, she was with him in the clinic and he had a lot of patients who came in with carpal tunnel. She watched him inject them with steroid shots, and saw the patient have an immediate improvement. She knew then that she wanted to work with people directly, to help them figure out what is going on and find a treatment plan that made their lives better.
Exploring the Pathway
She went home to Ontario after MedQuest and shadowed a local osteopathic surgeon, Doctor Davis. He was able to answer a lot more of her questions, and she ended up deciding to go to medical school to be an orthopedic surgeon.
Before graduating medical school, she worked several jobs in healthcare to further explore what she wanted to do. She loved being an EMT, but really struggled to leave her patient behind after taking them to the hospital—she wanted to be the one who provided their care. “That wasn't my role, you know, but I did want to stay there and make sure the patient was okay. And it was kind of a realization that I wanted to be involved in the total care of person, not just pieces of it.” She also worked as a medical assistant in a dermatology clinic and in a couple of different covid clinics.
A Full Circle Moment
One of the things Jessica is really excited about as she continues her journey is sharing her passion with
others. During one of her final rotations at the Grande Ronde Hospital, she was surprised to see 2026 MedQuest students job shadowing in the emergency department. Even though she had always remembered MedQuest fondly, even writing about it in the opening paragraph of her medical school application, she was vividly reminded of the experience when a student came to shadow her.
“It was a really full circle moment for me. And I think she thought the same thing. She saw someone who went to the program come out of it and start working in healthcare.”
The student was able to listen to the lung sounds of a patient that had come in. The sounds were normal, but Jessica was happy to tell the student how to listen and what to listen for. The look on her face made her feel so proud to be from eastern Oregon and so excited for this high school student in front of her.
It reminded her of when she was a MedQuest camper and she was certified in CPR for the very first time. It’s become mundane to her now, recertifying every three years since, but she remembers what it felt like that first time. “It is just exciting to see people get excited about those things. It reminds me how far I've come.”
Heading Forward
Right now, Jessica is doing residency interviews at a few locations in South Carolina, including Charleston, a much larger city than Ontario and La Grande. Each interview is two months long, and afterward, she will spend three years in residency before she’s able to come back home.
She’s not sure yet if she will go to eastern Oregon or to the Treasure valley, but either way, she’s excited about the path she has ahead of her.
