Meet Dr. Jen Lam-Rachlin! Dr. Lam-Rachlin explains her background and how she got into medicine, including her initial interest as an undergrad studying organic chemistry, a research-heavy maternal fetal medicine fellowship, and how she decided to pursue Obstetrics and Gynecology after finding she liked every clinical rotation in med school.
“Organic Chemistry and Fetal Echocardiography” – Meet Dr. Jen Lam-Rachlin
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Dr. Fox introduces Dr. Jen Lam-Rachlin, an OB/GYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist. Dr. Lam-Rachlin describes herself as a “typical immigrant family Chinese nerd,” and says that she and her siblings “fulfilled [our parents’] dreams for why they wanted to be in the U.S.”
Dr. Lam-Rachlin explains that she was interested in organic chemistry beginning in her undergraduate studies. After feeling unfulfilled from never seeing the application of her research in a lab, however, she decided to volunteer in a clinical lab. She loved this experience and then decided to change her major to pre-med.
Later, in medical school, Dr. Lam-Rachlin found that “there wasn’t one clinical rotation that I didn’t like,” which made choosing a specialty difficult. While she originally thought that finishing her obstetrics clinical would just be “getting it out of the way,” she found that it was a good combination of what she liked about other fields of medicine, although she very strongly considered going into trauma surgery or internal medicine as well.
After medical school and residency, Dr. Lam-Rachlin completed a research-heavy maternal fetal medicine fellowship through Wayne State University in Detroit. Dr. Lam-Rachlin describes this fellowship as “very academic,” and explains that it is attached to a massive research lab with many fellows, PhD students, and international research fellows. While this experience was very helpful to her career, Dr. Lam-Rachlin found that in such a research-heavy situation, she missed seeing and caring for patients and was relieved to eventually transition back to clinical care. She notes that during fellowship, there were few opportunities to see patients more than just once.
Now, with Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates, Dr. Lam-Rachlin focuses primarily on ultrasound and gestational diabetes care. Dr. Fox says that she “pioneered and developed our own fetal echocardiography program,” and Dr. Lam-Rachlin explains that she became familiar with fetal echocardiography during her fellowship training. She loves prenatal diagnostics and consulting with patients throughout tough pregnancies, and says understanding the fetal heart comes naturally to her because “the heart is very logical…there’s a very systematic approach to it.”
In addition to fetal echocardiography, Dr. Lam-Rachlin also helps patients dealing with gestational diabetes. She says that Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates’ gestational diabetes program is great for patients because they have near-constant contact with their medical team and access to assistance with nutrition and other services. She enjoys managing diabetes and finds it rewarding to see patients respond to their treatment and go on to have successful deliveries.
Dr. Jen Lam-Rachlin is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology with subspecialty training in Maternal Fetal Medicine. She earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University, attended medical school at SUNY Downstate, and completed a residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City before a fellowship at Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center/Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Lam-Rachlin is also certified in Nuchal Translucency Assessment and Fetal Nasal Bone Assessment. She joined Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates in New York City in 2015.
