From battling childhood cancer to caring for young patients Bridgette Merriman fulfills her dream of becoming a pediatric physician

New York – When Bridgette Merriman walks into a hospital room today, she isn’t there to sit on the bed, wait for tests, or worry about her next treatment plan. She’s there to stand at the foot of the bed as the physician, a white coat resting on her shoulders and a stethoscope around her neck. It is a role that feels almost unreal at times, considering where her story began.

Bridgette’s journey to medicine started not with textbooks or anatomy labs but with an unexpected illness that would take an ordinary Rochester childhood and transform it into something extraordinary.

The First Signs of Trouble

In the fall of 2008, Bridgette was just 11 years old—an energetic student and swimmer who loved the routine of after-school practices and family gatherings. When she developed a cough, it didn’t strike anyone as unusual. The colder months always brought sniffles, and she pushed through without complaint. But the cough didn’t fade. Along with it came swollen lymph nodes and unexplained weight loss.

At first, her family believed it was simply a long-lasting virus or perhaps exhaustion from training in the pool. But by early 2009, her energy began slipping away. At her younger brother’s birthday party, Bridgette couldn’t keep up. That moment was enough for her mother to realize something serious was happening.

They went to the pediatrician, where bloodwork and an X-ray were ordered. Though the medical staff couldn’t officially disclose the results, their expressions spoke volumes. When Bridgette’s doctor promised to call that very night, both she and her mother sensed that the news would change their lives.

The Diagnosis

“Bridgette, pack your bags,” her mother told her, fighting back tears.

To Bridgette, the idea of going to the hospital felt confusing. At her age, kids only ended up there for broken bones or appendicitis—things that made sense. Her stomach didn’t hurt, and she didn’t feel terribly sick. To her, it almost felt like a last-minute adventure, something she might one day tell stories about at school.

Read also: RIT student launches Tiger Nutrition program to help classmates understand why protein shakes are not enough for healthy eating

But reality arrived quickly. At Golisano Children’s Hospital, further testing confirmed what her care team suspected. David Korones, MD, delivered the news with steady compassion. Bridgette had Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“It’s cancer—it’s serious—but it’s curable,” he told her.

The honesty and reassurance in those words set the tone for her entire treatment journey. “I never really had the chance to worry about whether it wasn’t curable, because he put me at ease immediately,” Bridgette recalls.

What followed was months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, stretching from February to June 2009.

Finding Comfort in Care

The experience could have been terrifying for a child, but Bridgette remembers it differently.

“My care was so holistic,” she said. “The doctors, nurses, child life and social work teams did so many great things for me, my siblings, and my parents. Through everything, I was never nervous.”

She describes her months at Golisano Children’s Hospital as filled with small moments of joy—laughter with her care team, reassurance from nurses, and the sense that she was surrounded by people who saw her as more than just a diagnosis.

Now 27 and cancer-free, she continues routine monitoring for long-term effects of her treatment. Yet what lingers most is not the physical aftermath but the deep sense of purpose that began to take shape during those difficult years.

A New Dream

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” someone asked Bridgette three years after she reached remission from Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Her answer came without hesitation: “A pediatric oncologist.”

While many children her age were still dreaming of careers as athletes, teachers, or artists, Bridgette had already chosen a path that was deeply personal. During her time as a patient, she had grown curious about every detail of the medical world around her. She peppered her doctors and nurses with questions, learned about the procedures being performed, and even started blogging so she could teach others what she was experiencing.

What began as a way to understand her own care evolved into a calling that has defined her life ever since.

Read also: Village of Brockport announces fourth Local Planning Committee meeting for NY Forward initiative on September 16

“It’s been incredible going from saying I want to do it to actually doing it,” she reflected years later.

Returning as a Colleague

Bridgette attended Boston University School of Medicine beginning in 2020. By her final year, she had the chance to return home to Rochester for a clinical rotation at the very same hematology/oncology outpatient clinic where she once sat as a patient. This time, she was not receiving treatment—she was providing it, working alongside the physician who had delivered her diagnosis more than a decade earlier.

“One of my mentors once told me that to have a successful career in pediatric hematology/oncology, you need smarts, drive, and compassion,” Dr. Korones said. “Bridgette is extraordinary in that she has all three and then some. She adds a fourth element—she knows what it’s like to be the ill one in the hospital bed, the kid with no hair, the child on the receiving end of bad news.”

The full-circle moment reached its peak last spring, when Bridgette graduated from medical school. At the ceremony in Boston, Dr. Korones stood by her side as her hooder, the mentor chosen to symbolize the transition from student to physician.

“Dr. Korones is really the one who inspired me to pursue pediatric oncology,” she said. “The Dr. Koroneses of the world—that’s what it’s all about.”

Building a Future in Medicine

Today, Bridgette Merriman, MD, is a pediatric resident at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She plans to pursue a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Palliative Care, focusing not only on treatment but also on the quality of life and long-term wellbeing of her patients.

Her own senior thesis explored survivorship and the lingering psychological impact of cancer care on young adults. It is an area she intends to keep researching.

“Being a young adult with an adverse healthcare experience creates a constant feeling of ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop,’” she explained. That lingering sense of vulnerability, she believes, deserves more attention in research and patient support programs.

A Legacy of Compassion

Looking back, Bridgette credits her time at Golisano Children’s Hospital for showing her not just what medicine is, but what it can be when practiced with empathy.

“I know what it’s like to have the best,” she said. “Being there—bearing witness during the hardest moments of a child’s life—and helping them find comfort, even joy, in the darkest times… that’s what I want to do.”

Her story, from frightened child to determined physician, reflects a remarkable cycle: the patient who once needed hope now stands ready to provide it to others.

And each time she steps into a hospital room, she carries with her not just medical knowledge, but the lived experience of a child who once faced cancer head-on and discovered, in the process, the work she was meant to do.