My family is originally from Haiti but I was born in Queens, NY and grew up mostly in Fairfax, Virginia in the middle of two brothers. I went to UVA for undergrad, majoring in American Studies with a concentration in Race & Ethnicity and minored in Chemistry. During my time in undergrad my most meaningful experiences included serving as a Peer Advisor to incoming first year students and performing research on cervical cancer in Jamaica for 3 months. It was my time in Jamaica that really opened my eyes to the importance of primary care and preventive medicine, and reaffirmed my passion for both medicine and public health. During my gap year before medical school I worked as a Pharmacy Technician at Georgetown University Hospital.
If someone told me at graduation that I would be coming back to Charlottesville for medical school I wouldn’t have believed them, but I am so glad I did! There are many reasons I chose UVA – one of them being the opportunity to be in the Generalist Scholars Program. It was exciting to me that UVA had such a wonderful program focused on getting students involved and dedicated to the promising and important field of primary care. The mentoring opportunities and community experiences I’ve had so far have been truly invaluable. I aspire to be a Family Medicine physician in an urban area in the future, where I can also hopefully incorporate my interest in public health. I am thankful for the experiences that GSP has already provided me, and look forward to using what I have learned in helping future students of the program as well as my future patients.