ing in the DaVinci program. Her dedi- cation led to obtaining an EMT license after spending countless hours working at Hoag Hospital as a Clinical Care Extender (now known as Health Schol- ars). Reflecting on her journey, Melissa fondly recalls, “I fell in love with the Gamma Knife and Dr. Duma’s bedside manner, which inspired me to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from UC Riverside in 2011.” Subse- quently, she earned a Master of Public Health from West Coast University in 2019 and is currently in the final stages of completing her Master of Science in Medical Sciences from Southern Cali- fornia University of Health Sciences, set to graduate in December 2023. When asked about her greatest inspi- ration in education, Melissa shares, “I have the privilege of witnessing young adults grow into healthcare profession- als who step into hospitals to help those in dire need. I, too, aspire to continue my career in healthcare, and despite approaching forty, I am pursuing medi- cal school with a focus on emergency surgery.”
Melissa’s dedication and hard work in the medical field are deserving of recognition and honor. She humorously refers to herself as a “trophy,” a term she embraced after a boyfriend used it to describe her in a personal moment. She emphasizes, “I
know my future partner may be out there, but in the meantime, I’m living my best life, traveling, and achieving every goal I set. I can be my own trophy.” Beyond her professional life, Melissa is the proud parent of a tortoise named Diamond Al Scharfe. Her father gifted her this desert tortoise when she was just five years old, and Diamond, now thirty-five years old, typically hiber - nates for six months each year, emerging at Easter time. Melissa’s chosen fam- ily of friends including her Yaya’s have given the tortoise the playful nickname “the stripper tortoise” after witness - ing Diamond’s nocturnal antics, which include sleepwalking and climbing on a pole.
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