Mausumi Syamal’s life was arcing toward a career in theater, and she had even landed a role in a major Broadway production, when she felt the pull of medicine.

Ms. Syamal, 26, a third-year student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, was rehearsing as a chorus member in New York when she made an about face, returned home to West Bloomfield, and began studying for a medical career.

“I was thinking about a career in entertainment for the rest of my life, but realized I didn’t want to do it as badly as I wanted to get into medicine,” Ms. Syamal said.

“I’ve been performing my entire life, and my undergraduate background is mechanical engineering, but in retrospect, I’ve always been interested in and around medicine,” she said. “Even in my engineering work I was studying blood flow.”

While engaged in her undergraduate studies at Duke University, Ms. Syamal spent her free time job shadowing an emergency room physician. At the University of Michigan, she involved herself in the fight against AIDS, taking to the streets with organized needle exchanges.

“I chose Wayne because it was a good fit for me because I wanted to be on the front lines of fighting disease,” she said. “Detroit is a great place to really be in the trenches. That was a big draw for me. My family is here, but this is the place where I think I can have the biggest impact.”

Ms. Syamal is interested in working in otolaryngology.

“It’s a good fit with my fluid mechanics education,” she said. “That’s where I see myself after graduation, if they’ll have me.”

Despite the rigors of medical school, she still finds time to perform and audition in metropolitan Detroit, and takes part in the university’s film competition.

Does her background in the performing arts assist in her medical studies?

“So much of medicine is auditioning,” she explained. “You audition every day as a medical student to be the best. With patients, you have to put yourself in their shoes to understand them, and that’s what acting is. It helps immensely. Every day is an audition for medical students.”