Why FSU?

Despite living abroad for most of my life, my family have always been big Seminoles fans. My experiences throughout my undergraduate career at FSU furthered my love for the institution, its faculty, and its students. I particularly loved the diverse backgrounds and interests of FSU’s student population and its excellent faculty support. For these reasons, I was overjoyed when I received an interview invitation from the FSU College of Medicine (COM). My prior positive experiences, in tandem with how closely FSUCOM’s goal of responding to community needs aligned with mine, led me to select FSUCOM to pursue my medical degree.

Motivation to pursue a graduate degree

My interest in medicine began at a very young age, mainly due to spending a lot of time in the healthcare system as a survivor of pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Through this lens, I was able to note differences in the quality and availability of healthcare in the different nations I grew up in. In high school, I interned with the United States Agency for International Development in Peru, where I learned about and assisted in the initiatives taking place. These efforts further solidified my dream of working in healthcare and sparked my interest in patient education and preventive medicine. While volunteering at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare in college, I unexpectedly realized that the inequities I observed internationally were problems at home as well. These pivotal moments helped develop my passion for preventive medicine, patient education, longitudinal care, and improving healthcare accessibility both nationally and abroad. Pursuing my doctorate in medicine was the natural next step toward achieving my goals.

Importance and/or impact of research and work

The Global Health Collaboration Project (GHCP) is a multidisciplinary and inter-institutional volunteer organization Dr. Fleischer, Dr. Cheung, Elora Friar, and I started with the primary goal of improving the health of people in rural Honduras. Through our work, we installed water filters and latrines and gathered important information on several conditions affecting rural areas. I am most proud, however, of the Honduran student and faculty representation on our project and our focus on creating interventions that are not only culturally cognizant but desired by the communities we serve.

Career aspirations

I aspire to become an exemplary family physician with a focus on preventive medicine, patient education, and improving healthcare accessibility. I additionally plan to continue to serve as a mentor!

Advice for anyone considering graduate school

I would encourage anyone interested in graduate school to pursue it regardless of age or stage of life. We have students in our program who just graduated with undergraduate degrees and those who have had multiple careers before matriculation. They have all been successful because they all have a passion for their field and a desire to pursue higher education.

Accomplishments during graduate career

I am grateful to have been published in AAD International. I have also presented over ten posters and given two oral presentations, one of which was at AAFP’s FMX Conference (2022). I additionally consider the success of my mentees an accomplishment as well. Our project is coming up on its fourth generation of student leaders, and I am so proud of the generations that have come after my own. Outside of my global health work, I am proud of the leadership positions I have held, and of course, matching my top choice for my residency in Family Medicine.