Christina Numamoto
Trading Psychology for Toxicology
Before enrolling in TCOP, Christina Numamoto led a successful career as a licensed marriage and family therapist. Her specialty was crisis evaluation and she worked with the Anaheim, CA, police department in crisis assessment. She was called in situations with a 5150 legal code, meaning cases with severely and persistently medical ill individuals. “It’s a very stressful job,” admitted Numamoto. After several years as a behavioral health clinician, she took off two years to teach English in Japan. “When I was a very young girl my dad passed away from kidney cancer but as a dying wish he wanted me to learn Japanese,” said Numamoto whose father faced discrimination growing up in Iowa after WWII. Numamoto returned to work in crisis assessment after Japan but felt discouraged, “I was trying to help people and I felt like I wasn’t really helping them,” explained Numamoto. “I was feeding a system that I couldn’t fix. Mental health is not where it needs to be in America, and I felt like I was not being heard.”
On the fence between pursuing a medical or pharmacy degree, Numamoto remembered how fascinated she was when she talked with the toxicologists and forensic officers in the police force. “I knew I wanted to learn toxicology and I love chemistry,” recalled Numamoto. “I was applying to medical school, and I wasn’t sure it was what I was supposed to be doing, if I wanted to be a toxicologist. I received an email from Dean Heidi Fuchs, and we had a very good conversation. She pointed out that what I wanted to do was more in the role of a pharmacist than a physician. I didn’t realize that, and no one had been able to point that out to me before.”
