Our
Story
As a pre-med student, I saw how medicine has historically been in silos, looking at symptoms and diseases in isolation instead of the whole person. When I learned about the difference between allopathic and osteopathic medicine, it was an easy decision for me to exclusively apply to osteopathic medical schools. I wanted to receive medical education that teaches medicine through the lens of integrated systems so that I could become a more effective doctor regardless of the specialty I pursued.
Even while studying at an osteopathic medical school, medicine still seemed reactionary, treating symptoms and diseases after they already started. In medicine, a treatment typically used first as the standard of care is called the first-line treatment. I believe the true first-line treatment should happen before you even need to see a doctor. It starts with your lifestyle and daily decisions. It starts with how you spend your day and the choices you make. It starts with taking care of yourself and preventing problems from starting. This is not just about physical health but also about mental and spiritual health. What inspired me to start podcast was the opportunity to provide health education in an evolving world where misinformation is rampant and self-proclaimed experts without credentials are louder than physicians who understand the science and have the relevant clinical experience.
As the podcast first started with this approach to health education to a general audience, I have always included frequent episodes detailing my own medical education journey. Over the years, I heard feedback from my listeners and gradually shifted more of my focus to supporting pre-med students and medical students who made up the majority of my audience. I've decided to keep the name first line to showcase how my approach to medicine reflects also in my approach to supporting trainees. We can't possibly support our patients the best we can if we ourselves are not well. It is my hope to continue to inspire those beginning their career in medicine to help patients on a much broader scale, by first pouring into the physicians that will be serving them.
about Dr. Jackson
Dr. Aubrey Ann Jackson is the creator and host of First Line. Originally from Pennsylvania, she relocated to Boston to attend Northeastern University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Political Science. She then relocated to Virginia and attended medical school at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she started First Line as a third-year medical student. She returned to Philadelphia to start psychiatry residency training.
