Page 4 - MSM Scholarships

Scholarship Impact – Making Student Dreams A Reality
Diana Guijarro Gaete
2nd-year M.D. student
What first interested you
in your study of medicine?
When I was about 12 years
old, I had a thyroidectomy
performed in Ecuador. My
parents couldn’t afford health-
care insurance in the United
States, and I was forced to wait
until every summer to get my
follow-up visits with a physician either in Ecuador or
Tijuana, Mexico. Experiencing firsthand not having
accessible healthcare in this country, gave me the moti- help contribute to this change and increase the diversi-
vation to pursue a career in medicine with the hope of
helping the uninsured and underserved communities.
Do you volunteer with any organizations? I
volunteer at the HEAL Clinic taking vitals as well as
serving as an interpreter for Spanish speaking patients.
Also, I am a chair for MSM’s Student National Medical
Association, and we recently hosted an event called
First Look. This event provides guidance and mentor-
ship for underrepresented monitories who are interest- award gave me the strength and confidence to not give
ed in pursuing a career in the healthcare field.
Jay N. Mainthia
2nd-year M.D. student
• Why did you choose
Morehouse School of Med-
icine? I appreciate the focus
Morehouse School of Medi-
cine places on primary care
education and research, and
hope to take full advantage of
its resources and partnerships.
With a MSM medical degree,
a physician assumes a position of trust and power that
makes him or her an effective advocate in the fight
for health justice. MSM, with its commitment to the
advancement of health equity, is perfectly aligned with
my values.
Do you volunteer with any organizations? I vol-
unteer at MSM’s free HEAL Clinic. It’s the perfect way
to volunteer and see real-life applications to the things
we learn in class. Plus, it’s an opportunity to meet
and learn from second and third year students who I
wouldn’t otherwise meet.
Share your experience so far at Morehouse
School of Medicine? My experience at MSM has been
amazing! It is always nice to see so many underrepre-
sented minorities like myself pursing an MD degree. I
feel the support from everyone in my class, and we are
a team who want to succeed to accomplish our goals.
What do you hope to accomplish after gradua-
tion/residency? My goal after graduating is to match
in California. My mission is to serve my Hispanic
community and serve as a mentor to other Latino
aspiring physicians. Growing up, I did not see many
Hispanic doctors, and I saw the treatment my parents
received just because of the language barrier. I want to
ty of healthcare providers in the US.
If you could say one thing to thank your scholar-
ship supporters what would it be? I would say thank
you, thank you so much! Your scholarship support
gave me the strength to pursue my career. Most un-
derrepresented students think twice, and that was me
second guessing this career. I am a first-generation
college student, and it has been hard. Your scholarship
up on my dream of becoming a doctor, and I will for-
ever thank you for your financial support.
Share how scholarship support helps you aca-
demically, professionally and personally? Knowing
that I do not have to take as much in loans takes an
enormous weight off my shoulders. Even now, there’s a
sense of this huge, mass of debt slowly gaining power
every day. But the scholarship support eases that fear
considerably.
What makes MSM special? So far, my experience
been wonderful! At my undergraduate institution, I
never had teachers this invested, who clearly want you
to succeed. I assume this is because most of the facul-
ty are so mission-driven. Similarly, it’s shocking how
non-competitive my class is, and how eager everyone is
to help each other out. It’s a great environment to learn
and uncommon in a lot of medical schools.
If you could say one thing to thank your scholar-
ship supporters what would it be? I would say thank
you for believing in me. Also, I would say that their
donations make it easier for the students of Morehouse
School of Medicine to fulfill the schools’ most admira-
ble mission, which is the creation and advancement of
health equity.