The Calling

The Calling follows the journey of a diverse group of medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx as they learn what it takes to become doctors in one of America’s most underserved communities.

Over the course of a year, the students share the humbling challenges they face, the crises of self-doubt and exhaustion, and the moments of encouragement that inspire them to go on. Through their first encounters with patients, the students confront the flaws and inequity in our health care system as they question and rediscover the motivations that made them strive to become doctors in the first place.

The film’s central narrative follows two fourth-year students as they embark on the next step of their journey, applying for the hospital residencies that will define their careers:

Alexandra, the youngest daughter of Dominican immigrants, hopes to find a family medicine residency that will allow her to stay in the Bronx and serve the community she loves.
Le’Shauna, the first in her family to attend college, dreams of leaving the harsh urban environment that tragically marked her family and finding a residency in radiology at a top hospital in the South.

Woven throughout, the film introduces younger students whose experiences echo and illuminate what Alexandra and Le’Shauna faced on the road to their true calling.

Captured in verité scenes and intimate video diaries, the first-year students struggle to keep up with the punishing workload, meet their first cadavers, and engage with real patients for the first time. Meanwhile, the third-year students rotate through different specialties, juggling long shifts in the hospital with study marathons for the all-important exams that will make or break their futures.

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“I was hell bound on becoming a doctor. I think it’s a privilege to be a doctor and I think it’s even more of a privilege to be a Black doctor.”

Andrew Peck, 1st Year Medical Student

“Growing up, I passed by Einstein on my way home from school, but it seemed like a separate world. As I got older, I kind of realized the magnitude of that…having a medical school in the Bronx, that's actually pretty cool…”

Alexandra Perez, 4th Year Medical Student

“When patients can relate to their doctor they're more likely to trust them with their care. We need more initiatives, programs and resources to get and support more student doctors of color.”