Mychael Spencer’s circuitous path to becoming a doctor meandered first through K-12 teaching and administration. He was 30 when he enrolled as a student at the Indiana University School of Medicine following a decade of being an educator in Indianapolis area schools.
During his first hospital-based rotation as a medical student, Spencer’s two careers converged. He walked into the room of a patient who was experiencing heart symptoms and introduced himself as the medical student on the team. The recognition came slowly as the patient’s wife said, “You remind me so much of my son’s middle school principal, Mr. Spencer.”
The initial confusion turned into comfort as this family perceived they had an ally amid a vulnerable moment in the hospital. They began to catch up like old friends talking about school memories. “The work we do in life doesn’t stay neatly organized into chapters,” Spencer said. “It follows us. It connects us.”
The encounter reminded Spencer that every patient he sees is a person who carries a story. Along with providing excellent medical care, doctors must “recognize the humanity standing in front of us,” he said. Spencer, who is president of the IU School of Medicine Class of 2026, was selected to speak at the school’s commencement ceremony on May 15, where he also received the prestigious Dean’s Award.
“Myke has provided tremendous service to the school and the Dean’s Office in numerous ways,” said Emily Walvoord, MD, interim senior associate dean for Medical Student Education. “He served as president of the Class of 2026 for all four years, is a member of the Admissions Committee and is the only student member of the IU School of Medicine Dean Seach Committee.”
Spencer was also inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society as an IU medical student and was named to the IU Indianapolis Elite 50 and Premier 10 lists of top graduate students in 2025. During his time at IU School of Medicine, Spencer also chaired the Independent Student Analysis Committee for the school’s successful reaccreditation, served in leadership with the student DEI Coalition, and helped manage the Student Outreach Clinic, a free clinic providing primary care to uninsured individuals in the Indianapolis community.
On the national level, Spencer was one of four students to serve on the advisory board for the American Medical Association’s ChangeMedEd Precision Education initiative, and he chaired the Student National Medical Association, an organization with 7,000 members nationwide that is committed to supporting underrepresented minority medical students and addressing the healthcare needs of underserved communities.
“One of the things I learned is the importance of having broad perspectives and broad coalitions of people to come together to make things happen,” Spencer said of his collective leadership experiences. “It also reinforced my belief that leadership is really about serving others. My ‘why’ for serving as a leader is because I really want to make an impact.”
Fusing interests in medicine and education
For Spencer, medical school was always the dream. During his youth, he interacted with hospitalized patients through the VolunTEEN program at Wishard Hospital (now Eskenazi Health). Those experiences led him to the pre-med track at Indiana University, where he majored in biology. But a part of him longed to give back to his community in another way: as a teacher.
At a time when Spencer was a self-conscious and underperforming middle schooler, a math teacher recognized his aptitude and recommended he take an honors class. Having someone believe in him made all the difference, Spencer said. He wanted to do that for other struggling students.
“Potential is rarely the problem — belief is,” said Spencer. “Because sometimes the moment that changes someone’s life isn’t about intelligence. It isn’t always opportunity. It is the moment someone looks at them and says, ‘I see you. I believe in you. You belong here.’”
He trained through the accelerated Teach for America program with the intent to teach math and science for a couple years while studying for the Medical College Admission Test. Two years turned into 10 as Spencer moved from the classroom to the principal’s office and into district administration.
It was the COVID pandemic shutdowns that invited space for reflection. Was it too late to become a doctor?
“Dreams have a way of nagging at you until you pursue them,” Spencer said.
He found his experiences as an educator only strengthened his application for the IU School of Medicine. And his time in educational administration allowed him to be an effective and understanding liaison between medical students and school leadership in his role as class president.
“I can understand those different dynamics,” Spencer said. “I know how hard things are to move, how something that seems like a simple decision is really not so simple. I do think I was able to open the communication between our class and the administration.”
After graduation, Spencer will stay at IU to start his residency training in anesthesia. As an MD, he plans to stay engaged in academic medicine with a keen interest in improving medical education. During his time in K-12 education, he obtained a Master of Education from Columbia University and a Specialist in Education Degree focused on educational administration from Ball State University.
Walvoord, one of Spencer’s mentors in Medical Student Education, said she could envision a day when Spencer becomes her “boss” — something she would wholeheartedly welcome.
“We hope that he will continue to build on his incredible foundation to become one of our future leaders at the medical school,” Walvoord said.
Building trust with patients and peers
On Match Day, Spencer was elated to open his sealed envelope and discover he had matched into the Anesthesia Residency Program at IU School of Medicine.
“I love IU,” he said. “I wanted to stay someplace I could thrive and where I had people who really believed in me.”
Landing on a medical specialty wasn’t easy for Spencer because he liked aspects of every rotation. In the end, he found anesthesia to be “a perfect marriage of everything that I enjoy about medicine.”
“I really like procedures, I like working with patients who are in acute situations, I like pharmacology, I like physiology, and I really like this idea of being able to build relationships with patients very quickly — sometimes 10 to 15 minutes — and building their trust,” he said. “Because you’re literally getting ready to play a very important role in whatever procedure they’re getting ready to have during a very difficult time for them.”
Jerry Young, MD, a professor of clinical anesthesia, knew right away that Spencer was a good fit for the field.
“He is among the most hardworking and receptive students I have encountered,” Young said. “He asks meaningful clinical questions, reflects deeply on feedback and applies it immediately, which is a rare and invaluable trait in medical training.
“Equally important is how Mychael relates to others,” added Young. “He communicates with empathy and clarity, builds trust naturally with patients and families, and carries himself with professionalism well beyond his level of training.”
During his time in medical school, Spencer also conducted research, co-authoring seven poster presentations and two publications. And he served alongside Young on the IU School of Medicine Admissions Committee.
“Mychael was a very keen interviewer, as I would have expected from his role in high school education,” Young said. “He would ask questions in an empathetic way, putting our very nervous interviewees at ease.” Young sees in Spencer a genuine passion for developing others and improving systems.
“In every sense, Mychael Spencer embodies the values we strive to cultivate at Indiana University School of Medicine,” said Young. “He is hardworking, compassionate, teachable and a proven leader. He represents the very best of his class.”
In his commencement message, Spencer reminded his classmates of the extreme privilege they now carry as doctors. People will place their trust in them during some of the most difficult times of their lives.
“The world does not simply need more doctors; it needs doctors who remember the humanity at the center of this work,” said Spencer. “Because somewhere out there — in a room we haven’t walked into yet — someone is waiting. And they need a doctor who will look at them and say, ‘I see you. I believe in you. You are not alone.’”
