Ashley Abing-Mesropyan Follows a Path Towards Meaningful Care
Inspired by Her Mother’s Compassion and Driven by a Desire for Immediate Patient Impact
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Ashley Abing-Mesropyan’s first exposure to what healing could be like came from her mother.
“Even though her official title was homemaker, not doctor, she was the one who took care of me, my brother, and my sister, and she was always very loving and kind to us,” said Abing-Mesropyan, School of Medicine Class of 2028.
Growing up, watching her Salvadoran mother treat ailments with Vicks VapoRub, Abing-Mesropyan was inspired to do the same—care for her own patients with intention and compassion. But to get her foot in the door, she needed to get her first “yes.”
Abing-Mesropyan’s uncle was diagnosed with cancer and received care at the City of Hope, a cancer center close to her home in Los Angeles. “What they did for him was a miracle,” she recalled. Aspiring to go into bench research, she emailed dozens to nearly a hundred of physicians at the City of Hope while in high school until she received her first “yes.” While contributing to the development of a chemotherapy drug at one of the City of Hope laboratories, she realized it could take years before reaching patients—prompting her to seek more immediate impact and a deeper, direct connection with those in her care.
A second-generation American and the first in her family to enter the medical field, Abing-Mesropyan majored in molecular and cellular biology at the Johns Hopkins University. She focused her undergraduate experience on clinical exposure, engaging in research and shadowing in both thoracic and gynecologic oncology.
After earning a Master of Science in medical sciences at Brown University, Abing-Mesropyan found the discipline of ophthalmology after searching for roles as a medical scribe. “I began applying to scribe roles in ER, dermatology, and ophthalmology, and chose a private ophthalmology practice, which I ended up loving and have continued to explore in medical school,” she said.
Not knowing much about the specialty, besides her own eye doctor visits as a patient, Abing-Mesropyan became interested in vision correction surgeries such as LASIK, PRK, and cataract surgeries. “I thought it was incredible that a 15-minute surgery could take someone from being legally blind to 20/20 vision,” she said. “With ophthalmology, I often observed that you can restore patients to a stable or healthy state, which I find especially rewarding.”
At New York Medical College, Abing-Mesropyan expanded on her ophthalmology interests by working with Westchester Medical Center, examining the impact of inpatient consults on ophthalmology resident education and engaging case studies with Daniel Elefant, M.D. ’17, assistant professor of ophthalmology.
“It will be incredibly rewarding to be part of the care team, though it’s also a bit daunting—transitioning from studying to caring for real patients with serious conditions,” said Abing-Mesropyan. “I’m mindful of that responsibility. What I've been told from friends or upperclassmen is that you actually do make a difference, and patients do come back to their appointments just to see you. And so I look forward to being a part of patients' lives.”
Still very much keeping an open mind, she will be using her third year in medical school as a “time for exploration” and getting to know everything that’s available.
