I grew up in warm and sunny Florida in a small town a few hours south of Tampa. I decided to head up north for college and I was fortunate to attend Harvard University, where I graduated in 2012 with a major in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and minor in History of Science. During my gap year before medical school, I worked in Boston for the Clinton Health Access Initiative on global projects in chronic malnutrition and maternal-child health. I also served as a volunteer for Health Leads in Boston addressing the social service needs of women and children. Together, these valuable opportunities inspired my interest in domestic public health and made me feel called to a primary care career. Now since I came to Baltimore for medical school at Johns Hopkins, my family moved here, and Baltimore officially feels like home. I have continued to play the flute, do yoga, bake, and make crepes with friends.
It was through American Academy of Family Physicians and Maryland Academy of Family Physicians conferences in conjunction with my family medicine rotation at Franklin Square during medical school that I was drawn to become a family physician. It was then through policymaking in the American Medical Association and MedChi (Maryland's state medical society), namely around community health workers and housing instability, that I was motivated to pursue further efforts in domestic health care policy and a Master of Public Health degree. I am so grateful to be at Franklin Square and Johns Hopkins learning to become a skilled generalist and public health practitioner. I am excited to learn more about how multidisciplinary, integrative health services are an avenue for more cost-effective care and wider social support for underserved populations. I honestly cannot think of a better city than Baltimore in which I could learn, grow, and serve.