Professional role models are important for career development (Passi, 2016), and have significant impact on a physician’s identity and their ability to sustain enthusiasm and passion for a career which carries significant intellectual, emotional, and time demands. Medical students and practicing physicians who report admiration for a role model also demonstrate greater patient-centered values and life meaning, which may in turn promote wellness and decrease burnout (Huang, 2022).  In this lecture, attendees will hear about the stellar career of Dr. Melisa Lai-Becker, an emergency medicine physician whose career is focused on community-engaged care including serving on the front lines of the opioid epidemic and developing innovative strategies for injury prevention.