A graduate of McMaster University

Placement: Richmond Community Hospital – Emergency Department

What BSVM pillar do you feel most energized to explore further, and why?

I feel most energized to explore the pillar “Learn through Service with Others”. At school, I have learned about systemic barriers patients face to healthcare. In Canada, a couple of these include lacking access to a family doctor and long wait times in emergency departments. These are struggles that all citizens experience, and marginalized groups face additional challenges pertaining to healthcare access and treatment. I am curious to learn about how the models in which people pay for healthcare in the United States affects people with lower socioeconomic status, and how historic race-based discrimination might continue to produce worse health outcomes for racialized people. I feel energized to serve these communities, and listen to people’s lived experiences with challenges to receiving healthcare along the way. There might also be situations where I see the effects of barriers to care first-hand. I hope to contribute to lessen these burdens during this program through sincere solidarity with patients. I believe these enriching experiences will become memories that I will carry forward into my future career as a physician. I hope to help alleviate these challenges for the future generation of marginalized patients through continued listening and advocacy.

What do you do for fun? How do you like spending free time?

I enjoy exercise and music. I like to Latin dance with friends, play sports like soccer and basketball, and run long distances. I also enjoy music, particularly classical and Croatian pop. I sing with a choir and like to assemble songs into playlists for my radio show.