Rising Stars: Meet Christian Franz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Franz.

Hi Christian, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am of predominantly Filipino and Chinese heritage. I was born in the Philippines, grew up on a small farm on the island of Luzon for the first five years, and then moved to New York City when I was six. I currently travel between New York and California, where both sides of my family live.

I grew up in New York with my single mother, who has been a nurse for the past thirty years. Because of her, I became very interested in the human body and the sciences at an early age. I remember rummaging through her bookshelf filled with encyclopedias and medical textbooks, looking for anatomical pictures of muscles, and trying to learn how organs worked. This translated into my general love for reading. Until about sixth grade, I made it my goal to finish more than 50 books a year. I loved learning new things!

But really on a mission to learn more about how life worked, I sustained my love for science until high school and was determined to pursue medicine and become a physician someday. I actually applied to college for Biology as my pre-med course, but my application got switched up with someone doing pre-nursing! Thinking this was a curious serendipitous act, I pursued my nursing studies at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing while also minoring in Theatre. I fell in love with the field of nursing and eventually became a registered nurse in 2019. I worked in public health and the hospital’s cardiac surgery recovery until we were met with the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Seeing the fragility of life at the bedside during the crisis in New York City, I made it a goal to fulfill the things I have always wanted to try. I began by returning to school at New York University, where I fulfilled a two-year post-baccalaureate program to complete my course and research requirements for medical school! Currently, I continue to work as a nurse in an interventional cardiology practice while still holding on to my love for the arts through photo/video creation and my passion project, the Friends of Franz Podcast.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I believe that every painful and fear-filled experience in life brings about byproducts of immeasurable strength and new outlooks. I once read that life is not a single snapshot of a beautiful picture but a collage of many pleasant and ugly photos that create one perfect masterpiece.

Being a new-graduate nurse during the height of the pandemic here in New York City was truly one of the most overwhelming experiences in my life thus far. You come out of school with the mindset that you are here to save every life possible, and this was just not the case in the hospitals during that period. It was such a dark and sometimes hopeless time. Almost ten patients passing away every night, wrapping bodies that would be placed into the freezer trucks and using my phone to video call families so that the patient could say goodbye for the last time while I heard their cries of agony. This period truly felt like a jagged road. Like being in a long, winding dark tunnel hoping for a sight of light.

These moments of darkness indeed pass, such as in other instances in my life. I struggled with severe clinical acne throughout high school, which robbed me of my self-confidence and resulted in anxiety. I constantly hid my face, I convinced myself no one could love me, and when my mom would ask me my birthday wish, it would be a visit to the dermatologist. I also suffered from worrisome heart arrhythmias in 2016, which resulted in getting a cardiac ablation procedure. This is atop the pain of losing my father and grandmother to cancer. All of these scary and foggy seasons culminate in preparation for the next big thing. In new times of distress, I remind myself that I can be strong because my past struggles have already strengthened me.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Working as a nurse within the hospital walls during the pandemic and seeing all the gruesome events, I was truly affected by the amount of misinformation on social media. After one horrible night shift, I stumbled upon a “COVID is a Hoax” protest a few streets from the hospital. I realized that misinformation usually originates from those not qualified to spread and interpret data, which strays people from taking vital precautions and can ultimately cost lives.

To combat this, I began an Instagram live stream series in February 2021 entitled Friends of Franz (now released as the Friends of Franz Podcast) to invite clinical experts from different medical subspecialties to tear down common myths about their fields. Episode after episode, I found myself also veering into their life journeys, their life realizations throughout their years of academics and clinical practice, and the forms of decompression they engage in outside of work.

Within the East Asian culture, healthcare professionals in their white coats are revered, seen as “prim and proper,” and boxed in many societal expectations and pressures. Through my guests and the narrations of their life outside work, I came to another goal of normalizing the humanization of medicine. I also wanted to share that healthcare is a profession, not one’s sole identity. We meet dentists who are ravers, physicians who were former pilots or rock stars, nurses who are dancers, professionals who left medicine, and so much more!

Commencing the series during the rise of violent AAPI attacks in 2021, most of my guests are of AAPI heritage to highlight the stories and experiences of healthcare professionals within the community. Additionally, growing up with mostly women figures as my inspirations, I envisioned most of my expert guests to be women to share their stories of rising above the struggles of being in the male-dominated field of medicine.

I am so grateful that the podcast has been streamed in over 80 countries and on six continents worldwide. Knowledge is power (and can be life-saving), and I feel proud to help permeate it. Please check out the second season of the podcast, now available on all podcast platforms!

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Outside of books, my favorite childhood memories are tied with my love for performing arts! As Filipinos, we have an idea of “triple threats.” I joined every dance contest and talent show possible during middle school and high school. I fell in love with gymnastics, and I remember getting up on stage each time to do my flips and jump splits in front of hundreds of students. I participated in drama and play productions and also joined the choir and worship teams at church on top of vocal lessons. A part of me thought I would pursue the entertainment business in the Philippines and would practice on-cue crying in front of the mirror, haha!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrsfranz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsoffranzpod
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ChristianFranz
• Other: https://spoti.fi/3GomNkF (Spotify Podcasts), https://apple.co/3Vs1Wks (Apple Podcasts)

Image Credits
Enya Barquia, Lauren Winn, Glen Kwon