Class Year: 2019, 2023M (MD)
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Major: Chemistry
Minor: History
Cluster: Bioethics

The REMS program has become a much larger part of my life than I truthfully would have ever expected it to. Obviously avoiding the MCAT is a plus to getting into medical school, but the big things I have taken away from this program have been the opportunities I’ve made, the freedoms away from medicine I have been afforded, and the friends I have made along the way. These friends are likely to be lifelong and have been great resources and sources of strength when I haven’t possessed it myself.

In some ways, the REMS Program allowed me to explore every other option outside of medicine I could have possibly wanted to pursue and through that process I know medicine is the only thing I can see myself doing. It’s a wonderful program that allows you the freedom to become the best version of yourself and enjoy your college experience. At the end of it all, I think that freedom enables you to become a better doctor if you choose to, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Throughout my undergraduate experience on the River Campus, I chose to participate in activities and classes that genuinely interested me. I chose to be a chemistry major (I know, not everyone’s first choice, but to each their own) with a history minor and to study abroad for a semester in Stockholm, Sweden. I chose to get involved with the Judicial Branch of student government, the Quidditch Team, Greek Life, the on-campus EMS organization: RC MERT, and genuinely explored as many different interests as I could.

Class Year: 2021, 2025M (MD)
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Major: Sociocultural Anthropology and English Literature
Cluster: Chemistry

I began dreaming of becoming a doctor ever since I was a child. And yet, my favorite thing about the REMS program has always been the space it gave me to pursue my other interests, with my core goal intact. It enabled me to have experiences I never would have had – experiences which I have later found to be vital to becoming a better doctor and more capable activist.

As an undergraduate at the University of Rochester, I took advantage of the flexible curriculum to double major in Sociocultural Anthropology and English Literature. Through my REMS mentors, I became drawn to narrative medicine, in which I learned that every person has a unique combination of social, family, and medical histories – which were all stories necessitating close-reading and in-depth analysis. I wrote my senior honors thesis in anthropology on “Shaping Việt Kiều Motherhood in America,” a rumination on Vietnamese American placemaking, refugee politics, and kinship. The cultural-cognizance and ethnographic skillset I gained during this project were formative.

Thus, I am forever grateful to the freedom REMS gave me to pursue my passions. As I enter medical school, all of these past experiences have not only deeply shaped me, but will also enable me to embark on a holistic career in medicine at the intersection of community, healing, and the humanities.

I got the opportunity to study at the University of Oxford for the whole of my junior year, where I worked as a digital researcher with the Multaka Oxford project at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Here, I was prompted to think critically about art, consumption, and the gaze. I generated research and creative writing pieces based on various Southeast Asian historical artefacts, which are now featured in the museum. It gave new meaning to the art of observation that is heavily emphasized in our medical school curriculum. At Oxford, I also studied human ecology and English literature, engaging with global perspectives on health, wellness, and the biopsychosocial model.

Amidst my studies, I also organized a coalition of students oriented towards anti-racism and using abolitionist perspectives to imagine new, equitable futures. We formed a book club, dedicated to unlearning our inherent biases, highlighting the works of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Angela Davis, Cathy Park Hong, Mariame Kaba and more. Here, I delved deeper into the history of medicine and was appalled at the lack of self-reflexiveness the field has regarding its roots in structural racism. I solidified that one of my most important learning goals is to always advocate for the decolonizing of medicine.

Class Year: 2023, 2027M (MD)
Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Ethics
Clusters: Public Health & American Sign Language

I believe that medicine is as much an art as it is a science – that being a good physician takes far more than memorizing biological facts. The REMS program has given me the flexibility and guidance to practice this philosophy – to approach learning with an open, balanced, “ever-better” mindset. Through courses in ethics, public health, and American Sign Language, I’ve explored the arts of argumentation, communication, and leadership, all while pursuing my deep-rooted passion for the natural sciences.

Whether it’s through research, leadership, community outreach, or academics, the REMS program encourages students to pursue their diverse interests, both within and outside of medicine, wholeheartedly. The people I’ve met at Rochester – peers, instructors, and mentors alike – have helped me become a better version of myself, believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. This support from the REMS community (or rather, ‘family’) has inspired me to take on challenges and find ways to grow as a person, student, scientist, and artist – not just during my undergraduate and medical school years, but for the rest of my life.

On campus, I’m involved in several student organizations including Toy Adaptation Program (which rewires toys to make them more accessible for children with disabilities) and Rochester Rangoli (our Bollywood dance team). I am also a volunteer at URMC/Strong Memorial Hospital, a member of UR’s iGEM 2022 team, and have been a teaching assistant for the biology and chemistry departments.