Medicinal Marks: Tattoos reflect student’s interests in healthcare and medication

You’ve probably seen a butterfly tattoo. A rose? Sure. Quote from a famous book? Chances are likely. How about a tattoo depicting the molecular structure of lidocaine? For that one, you’ll have to turn to Erin Wong. One look at her arm and you’ll know: She takes healthcare seriously.

A third-year (P3) pharmacy student, Wong loves learning about the drugs pharmacists handle.

“Every year the curriculum is obviously going to change because new drugs come out every year,” Wong says. “That’s the aspect of pharmacy that I love so much.”

Wong was attending an American Pharmacists Association conference (she’s president of the Binghamton chapter) when she noticed someone with a full tattoo sleeve of drug structures.

Wong, a self-proclaimed “nerd,” was inspired to get her own.

“I started thinking about what medications and neurotransmitters that I’ve learned so far that pertain to me, or something that I’ve done throughout my experiential rotations that made an impact,” she says.

Wong found a picture of the molecular structures she wanted and tweaked each one to be visually cleaner (images of molecular structures often contain a lot of letters). Once she had the designs sketched the way she wanted, she got all eight tattooed on her right forearm in her hometown of Canandaigua, N.Y.

Each tattoo represents significant aspects of Wong’s education, experience and interests. Some, like Narcan, were selected out of an academic interest.

“The opioid epidemic isn’t going away anytime soon,” she says. “So I feel like it’s very important, as a pharmacist, for us to be educating the community and whoever we possibly can about Narcan.”

Then there are others with more personal meaning, like adrenaline: “I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie,” Wong says. And rizatriptan: “That is my rescue migraine medication.”

Beyond her healthcare-related tattoos, Wong also has a tattoo in honor of her biggest role model: her mom.

A nurse for more than 20 years, Wong’s mom inspired her to enter the healthcare field. Fittingly enough, her mom signed off on her first tattoo when she was 16.

“Growing up, I was around the hospital all the time. She’d bring home random stuff from the hospital and I’d play doctor with it, and I just found everything so fascinating about healthcare and medicine,” Wong says. “I feel like that’s always been my calling. Anytime she’d tell me stories about the hospital or things that happened throughout her day. I was like, ‘Those kinds of things sound cool. And how can I make an impact one day?’”

Wong will start her rotations next year. While she’s unsure if she wants to do a residency or outpatient pharmacy, whatever she decides, she’s excited to have a career that – like tattoos – isn’t boring.

“Every year, new medications come out and standards of care change,” Wong says. “I like how [pharmacy] is not a stagnant job; you’re not doing one thing for the rest of your life. You have to continue your education for the rest of your career.”

As for more tattoos, Wong’s are spaced out and she is open to filling in the gaps. “As I learn more and I find more interesting-looking structures or if I learn about something else that relates to me or something in a way, I probably will,” she says.