Selena Gonzalez is a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School. She finished her clinical year at the Cambridge Health Alliance community hospital, where she enjoyed building lasting relationships with her patients in the local community. Selena is currently applying to internal medicine residency with a focus on primary care, which feels aligned with why she came to medical school: to gain the skills to be a consistent resource for patients from communities of color, low-income, and historically underserved backgrounds.
In recognition of this mission, Selena spent three months in the summer completing a clinical rotation and medical volunteering with the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, New Mexico and indigenous populations abroad in Chiapas, Mexico. For Selena, these self-selected experiences further magnified the resilience of populations often marginalized by their healthcare systems, and the importance of approaching healthcare with a deep sense of cultural humility. This work has bolstered Selena’s commitment to addressing health disparities through patient-centered care and advocacy for systemic change. At Harvard, Selena is a research assistant with the Brigham and Women’s Center of Excellence for Primary Care, supporting an evaluation of Brigham Health’s Social Care Team housing program redesign and expansion. In this role, Selena is assisting with conducting, transcribing, and coding patient interviews in both English and Spanish to gather insecurely housed patients’ experiences working with housing advocates and housing lawyers provided by Brigham. For Selena, this research underscores the importance of thinking creatively and critically about patients’ needs and developing programs that fill the gaps in patient care in order to promote health and well-being.
Reflecting on her time as a Samvid Scholar, she was left with the impression to always strive for more. While at Harvard, she notes that she has found power in taking the time to learn more about healthcare beyond the clinical encounter and seeking opportunities to become more involved in the community in order to continue affecting change. Two pieces of advice she would give to other Scholars are one, to stay true to the things that drive your mission, and two, to learn to embrace that your interests may change or compound authentically over time as you determine the most impactful way to affect change. Looking ahead, Selena is excited for residency match day and plans to continue exploring the different career paths within internal medicine. She looks forward to continuing to gather the tools and knowledge to create social change as a physician.
