Event Description

Melanie Modjoros, MD, Jamie Wright, MD, Suchita Rastogi PhD, and Erin Jarrell, MD, all are health professionals who have made career changes due to disability or changes in health. In a conversation moderated by Zoey Martin-Lockhart, these panelists will share how they navigated leaving traditional medical paths, found non-clinical or non-
traditional opportunities, and managed the logistical and emotional aspects of their transitions. This event aims to offer insight, support, and inspiration for those
considering or navigating similar changes in their professional journeys.

Speaker Bios

Dr. Erin Jarrell, MD, was drawn to psychiatry from a young age, shaped by her own
experience with vision impairment and adolescent depression. Although she initially
pursued psychiatry, a transition year in family medicine revealed her true calling, and
she went on to practice clinically for eight years. In 2016, worsening eye pain and
vision loss led her to a leadership role at Affinia Health, where she expanded the
COMPASS program in Muskegon, MI. Collaborating with care managers, a PharmD,
and a psychiatrist, she helped implement evidence-based case reviews to improve
outcomes for patients with chronic medical and mental health conditions. Progressive
vision loss eventually left her nearly blind, perceiving only light and shadow. In 2023 she joined the DM3P leadership team, coordinating monthly speakers and later joined
the executive team. She now helps shape the organization’s efforts to foster
community and advance disability inclusion in medicine.

Dr. Melanie Modjoros is a women’s health physician, who specialized in gynecology and sexual medicine before pivoting her career toward sex therapy. In 2014, she founded Sexual Health Consultants, a sex therapy practice dedicated to strengthening connections between mind and body and healing sexual dysfunction. As an AASECT Certified Sex Counselor, Dr. Modjoros provides sex counseling for individuals and couples, related to any sexual dysfunctions or concerns, such as low desire, arousal and orgasm challenges. As a chronic pain patient herself, Dr. Modjoros is especially dedicated to helping clients reimagine and redefine sex in the context of changing health or illness, such as pregnancy, aging, breast cancer, chronic pelvic pain, etc. As a Certified Hypnotherapist specializing in Sexual Freedom Hypnosis, she guides her clients to access and develop their own sexual self while releasing any guilt, shame, and anxiety that holds them back. Dr. Modjoros has presented at national and international conferences, where she teaches sex positivity and describes how an individual’s sexuality can be foundational to their general health and wellbeing. Her
mantra is “Sex is a gift from your body to you….and a gift from you to your body.”

Dr. Suchita Rastogi is a former MD/PhD student at Stanford University, who had to
discontinue her medical training in 2021 due to complications from multiple chronic
illnesses. During her journey of reinvention, she joined the Board of Directors for the
Stanford Medicine Alliance for Disability Inclusion and Equity, became a student investigator in Dr. Lisa Meeks’ research group, and co-founded the Disability in Medicine Mutual Mentorship Program (DM3P). While she aspires to return to Stanford to complete her MD training, Suchita is now focused on transitioning to a career in disability health equity research and policy. Currently, she is serving health professionals with disabilities as DM3P’s CEO and Executive Director and pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree through the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also interning at the Lotus Center for Rights Research, where she collaborates with legal scholars to build an evidence base that would support granting asylum to disabled refugees fleeing disability-based violence.

Dr. Jamie Wright, MD, PhD is a physician-scientist and lifelong patient advocate who has lived with hydrocephalus since childhood. Her personal experience with this condition has shaped both her passion for research and her dedication to serving others with similar challenges. During neurology residency, health setbacks prompted her to shift focus temporarily to research on hydrocephalus and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics. She now works part-time in this field at Brainspace while planning a return to clinical training in neurology or physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Wright brings a deeply personal lens to discussions on how health can reshape professional journeys.

Zoey Martin-Lockhart, MA, is a PhD candidate and MS Epidemiology student at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research explores the experiences and disability
inclusivity efforts of disabled medical students and doctors, and how support,
community, and mentorship arise around and out of disability experience and identity
amongst those in medicine. Zoey co-hosts, writes, and co-produces Docs With
Disabilities’ Research & Resource Rounds Podcast. She has been part of DM3P since
early 2021 and is currently the Director of DM3P’s nascent Policy and Advocacy and
Social Media teams.

MEETING AGENDA
Announcements and intro to the program: 15 min
Panel discussion with optional audience participation: 50 min
Q and A: 25 min