Jimmy Pan, 27, is a first-year student at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, W. Va. He’s originally from Hong Kong, and now calls Charlotte, N.C. home. Pan says he’s voted in three presidential elections, but this time his pick was not the winner. He took a break from studying to talk to us about the new administration under President Donald Trump.

Pan: From what I see so far President Trump is just issuing these executive orders hastily without second thought. Some of my classmates are Muslim, so obviously, they are concerned. I don’t think their family is affected, but they are concerned. Right now it’s Muslims, but the next thing could be me because I’m Asian. Tensions are high around the world and it could be me next. I’m definitely concerned.

I see a lot of poor patients that don’t have a lot of money. In terms of chronic disease, like diabetes, they come into a primary doctor’s office a couple of times a year. That only costs them $2,000 to $3,000 to control that chronic disease. If they don’t, a lot of bad stuff happens later and they have to go off and do operations, which can cost 20, 40 – maybe even  $100,000. They can’t afford it. So it’s going to be us, the taxpayers that pay for that.

I’m hoping they can improve Obamacare, not just completely destroy it. The idea is good. I mean what’s wrong with universal healthcare? But it definitely needs improvement. How, I don’t know. I’m not a politician. I’m just trying to be a doctor.

A lot of people are trying not to accept it and hoping that Donald Trump will do a bad job. But if you think about it, he’s going to be our president no matter what. Why would you hope that he’s going to do a bad job? He’s going to be with us the next four years no matter what. So, I really hope that he will actually care about everybody, not just himself.

The leaders of both parties should start to cooperate. If you’re going to be a leader you gotta lead and you’ve got to show the two parties actually working together to make America better.


In ‘100 Days, 100 Voices’ Nancy Andrews presents photographs depicting the diversity of voices across Appalachia. These portraits strive to show the varied faces, passions, issues and opinions from around the region. These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity. If you have an idea for ‘100 Days, 100 Voices’ please contact Nancy Andrews on Twitter @NancyAndrews or email at nancy.andrews [at] mail.wvu.edu.