As an aspiring physician, I sought opportunities to shadow doctors, engage patients, and travel to learn about different cultures and healthcare practices. During college, I participated in programs to learn what it means to be an effective physician in the context of pressing issues in global health. In the Chicago Academic Medicine Program, I shadowed physicians who cared for patients with tact and confidence. In Cornell’s Global Health Program in Tanzania, I learned about chronic diseases afflicting people in rural communities and the primary and secondary prevention efforts healthcare professionals pursue to improve outcomes. Together, these extraordinarily diverse experiences began to shape my understanding of healthcare and my future role as a physician.

After graduating from Cornell, I applied what I learned as a pre-med student and used my background in Nutritional Science. I was fortunate to work for an NGO in Haiti, as I had yearned for a deeper understanding of my Haitian heritage. My prior experiences taught me how to adapt to different settings and engage individuals from various backgrounds.

In Haiti, I gained experience in treating edema, kwashiorkor, and marasmus. Making a tangible difference in people’s lives and working on a team with dedicated coworkers led patients to trust me and disclose intimate details about their health. I learned to value these details and recognize the power that physicians can have with such communication skills for building patient-physician relationships. As the level of trust increased, parents started to rely on us heavily to the extent of calling at all hours seeking medical advice for their children, and I started to feel like I was a part of something bigger than myself.

Following Haiti, I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Indonesia. I learned that being a teacher and a physician are not mutually exclusive; physicians must effectively educate and communicate with patients regarding ailments and effective therapies. Upon my return to the U.S., I pursued a Master of Science in Community Health Education at Teachers College, Columbia University to learn about theories underpinning healthcare practices, how to think broadly about promoting health equity in underserved communities, and how to enhance patient-physician communication. When I attended the College’s Health Disparities Conference in 2014, I learned valuable lessons from healthcare professionals who reinforced what I learned abroad and solidified my understanding of the roles they play in achieving health equity, the importance of multicultural competency, and how to alleviate health disparities.

My goal as a physician is to help promote health equity and alleviate health disparities in rural and urban communities, domestically and internationally. I would like to be based domestically with the capacity to travel abroad and support resource-poor communities. In the United States, I want to either establish or work with a medical group that provides interdisciplinary care for patients on site and at home. For example, physicians, health educators, dietitians, counselors, and social workers would collaborate in teams to provide comprehensive care that meets a patient’s need at every socio-ecological level (i.e., interpersonal, intrapersonal, community, etc.). Finally, I want to establish health education programs to support patients with chronic and infectious diseases. It is important to help patients understand how to prevent illness and what promotes illness and disease so that they become empowered to achieve and maintain positive health outcomes.