Help Dr. Hom in Her Journey with Cancer
Donation protected
This GoFundMe is in support of Dr. Patricia “Trish” Hom. Just three days after completing her residency in ob-gyn at Harbor-UCLA in 2017, Trish was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer at the age of 35. She has been left unable to serve as an ob-gyn and to financially support herself and her two children. To make matters worse, the father of her children passed away in a violent and horrific tragedy just 2 weeks prior to her diagnosis, leaving her a single mom with a very unexpected terminal illness.
Trish’s path to becoming an ob-gyn began as a teen mom. She graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, while pregnant with her first son. Her second son was born 16 months after. She took her two children to UC Berkeley with her every day and still managed to graduate with honors with a double major in Integrative Biology and Molecular Cell Biology. She attended medical school at UC San Francisco and also completed a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley, all while raising her two sons.
Through her personal experience and education, Trish learned that a young woman’s transition to motherhood is crucial to her children’s development and well-being, so Trish decided to pursue a career in ob-gyn to serve patients similar to herself: pregnant teens and women with low health literacy and without access to resources.
Trish matched in Los Angeles for her residency, causing her to have to separate from her sons as they were already established in their own schooling in San Francisco. With the little free time she had, Trish visited her sons as often as she could, but the experience was a heartbreaking sacrifice. Despite her personal hardships, Trish pressed on and excelled, serving thousands of underprivileged women during her training at Harbor-UCLA. Trish also served as the first Wellness Chief of her department and received the “Teaching Resident of the Year” award as a Chief Resident.
While the completion of her clinical training would otherwise have been a celebratory event, it also meant that Trish would no longer be covered by her residency's health insurance. And with her unexpected cancer diagnosis, Trish was too ill too start the position she had originally accepted at Kaiser San Leandro. After years of providing outstanding care for patients, Trish was left unprotected due to the timing of her diagnosis with no health, life, or disability insurance at the most vulnerable time possible.
Trish is not eligible for Social Security Disability because Los Angeles County employees do not pay into the federal disability program, and Trish was an employee of LA County as a resident at Harbor. In most other situations, a patient with a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis would qualify for Social Security Disability. As a result, Trish does not have access to this essential benefit and she has not recovered enough to return to work. Additionally, her application for physician disability insurance was denied.
Currently, Trish’s treatment significantly renders her cognitively impaired. After all of her hard work and sacrifice, Trish is unable to fulfill her lifelong dream of serving women as an ob-gyn and has no income. Still, Trish remains hopeful that one day there may be a treatment that is more tolerable, such that she may be able to support herself again. In the interim, we are asking for your support. If you could find it in your hearts to help Trish and her sons during this incredibly difficult time, it would be so appreciated. Even if you yourself are financially unable to donate at this time, please do share the link to this page on Facebook and other social media to help us get the word out. Thank you so much.
Trish’s path to becoming an ob-gyn began as a teen mom. She graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, while pregnant with her first son. Her second son was born 16 months after. She took her two children to UC Berkeley with her every day and still managed to graduate with honors with a double major in Integrative Biology and Molecular Cell Biology. She attended medical school at UC San Francisco and also completed a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley, all while raising her two sons.
Through her personal experience and education, Trish learned that a young woman’s transition to motherhood is crucial to her children’s development and well-being, so Trish decided to pursue a career in ob-gyn to serve patients similar to herself: pregnant teens and women with low health literacy and without access to resources.
Trish matched in Los Angeles for her residency, causing her to have to separate from her sons as they were already established in their own schooling in San Francisco. With the little free time she had, Trish visited her sons as often as she could, but the experience was a heartbreaking sacrifice. Despite her personal hardships, Trish pressed on and excelled, serving thousands of underprivileged women during her training at Harbor-UCLA. Trish also served as the first Wellness Chief of her department and received the “Teaching Resident of the Year” award as a Chief Resident.
While the completion of her clinical training would otherwise have been a celebratory event, it also meant that Trish would no longer be covered by her residency's health insurance. And with her unexpected cancer diagnosis, Trish was too ill too start the position she had originally accepted at Kaiser San Leandro. After years of providing outstanding care for patients, Trish was left unprotected due to the timing of her diagnosis with no health, life, or disability insurance at the most vulnerable time possible.
Trish is not eligible for Social Security Disability because Los Angeles County employees do not pay into the federal disability program, and Trish was an employee of LA County as a resident at Harbor. In most other situations, a patient with a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis would qualify for Social Security Disability. As a result, Trish does not have access to this essential benefit and she has not recovered enough to return to work. Additionally, her application for physician disability insurance was denied.
Currently, Trish’s treatment significantly renders her cognitively impaired. After all of her hard work and sacrifice, Trish is unable to fulfill her lifelong dream of serving women as an ob-gyn and has no income. Still, Trish remains hopeful that one day there may be a treatment that is more tolerable, such that she may be able to support herself again. In the interim, we are asking for your support. If you could find it in your hearts to help Trish and her sons during this incredibly difficult time, it would be so appreciated. Even if you yourself are financially unable to donate at this time, please do share the link to this page on Facebook and other social media to help us get the word out. Thank you so much.
Organizer and beneficiary
Felicia Hom
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
Patricia Hom
Beneficiary
