What Alumni Are Saying

Adebisi Alimi, MD

Adebisi Alimi

 At an early age, I was fascinated about how medications/vaccines work in the human body and coupled with my love for science fueled my desire to become a physician. Medicine allows me to help people when they are at the most vulnerable time of their life and helps me foster a long term relationship with my patients which is a true blessing of being a physician. 

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Anna Magembe Juern

I have always wanted to help people in a profound way, and healing/taking care of humankind in the capacity of a physician was the best way to fulfill my dream. Growing up in Tanzania and Botswana in Africa, there were no dermatologists that I knew of therefore I was drawn to the subspecialty. After moving to the US, I also realized there is a paucity of dermatologists of color and I wanted to fill that gap.

Cuong Pham

Cuong Pham

My community and family have given me so much and medicine is one way for me to give back.  The moments I have seen people lift their lives up from me just listening or advocating will always be priceless. 

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John A. de Gorostiza Villanueva

As a physician, I am honored to have the privilege of forging a covenant of trust with my patients, who vulnerably share their hopes and concerns with me. In return, I validate my patients’ existence in this world by empathetically listening to them and giving them a sense of worth. With self-worth, my patients can hopefully take proactive measures to respect their bodies and follow my recommendations to sustain their overall health and function. 

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Marissa Lightbourne

My goal is to help kids with endocrine disorders transition into adulthood. Why endocrinology? I like medicine that involves physiology. When you understand the pathways about how the body functions you can change the course of the disease. This can be as simple as controlling diabetes can decrease heart disease or as complicated as apolipoprotein particles directing the clearance of lipids.

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Michael Kim

I am an Internal Medicine & Pediatrics Academic Hospitalist who loves working with both children and adults. Every day I work I look forward to the challenges and joys of working with a wide variety of patients, staff, and learners.

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Ngozika Okoye

As a child, I had an inquisitive mind and I found the inner workings of the human body intriguing. I enjoyed helping people and was always the first on the scene with my bright orange lunch box full of ointments and bandages when my siblings sustained minor injuries during our adventures as children so naturally, I gravitated towards a career in medicine.

Opeyemi

OPEYEMI DARAMOLA

For me, medicine personifies a service profession that combines humble hard work, high academic achievement with social awareness and advancement of our quality of life. This may sound naive given the administrative and public health challenges we currently face in American medicine but I held that conviction a million years ago when I applied to medical school and I maintain that conviction now. I would do it all over again; I love my job and I feel privileged that I have been provided the opportunity to facilitate healing.

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Sancia Ferguson

I contemplated medicine during my undergraduate years, but landed on public health. I did my MPH in epidemiology prior to starting medical school and I deeply enjoyed public health and its lens. I did an elective in the emergency department at HCMC and I realized how much I enjoyed patient care. Pursuing medicine was the right decision for me, I deeply value the unique relationship between physicians and patients. The public health perspective has been immensely useful in my work in clinical operations and leadership.  Medicine has the unique combination of being highly rewarding and highly humbling. I am grateful for the opportunity to do this work, and for how the work affords me the opportunity to continually refine myself.

Shaquita Bell

Shaquita Bell

I am thankful for the excellent training that I received at the University of Minnesota Medical School.  It has prepared me to practice primary care pediatrics in a community that looks like and feels like the one I came from.  It is my honor to help address issues of health equity and health disparities in my daily work.