Hanako Agresta

UConn School of Medicine

I was born and raised in Burlington, Connecticut. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in physiology and neurobiology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Connecticut in 2020.

From 2018 to 2020, I served first as a participant and then as program director of Collegiate Health Service Corps, a program providing preventative health lessons to local medically underserved populations. Through this program, I was introduced to Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic, Connecticut, where I continued to volunteer and to build relationships with the patrons and staff. With UConn’s Hunger and Homelessness Campaign, I organized the first Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week on campus to raise awareness of poverty in the surrounding communities. I also served as the El Instituto Fellow for UConn’s Migrant Worker Clinics in 2019. In this role, I coordinated undergraduate and post-baccalaureate volunteers, trained them how to take vitals, discussed with them how to provide culturally-appropriate care to migrant workers, and oversaw them at the clinics.

I decided to apply to the Urban Service Track/AHEC Scholars (UST/AS) Program because I felt that its curriculum chimed with my goal of becoming a primary care physician for medically underserved populations. I feel very strongly that preventative care is one of the most important aspects of our healthcare system, and that healthcare should be available to all that require it. Participating in the UST/AS Program will give me the resources and support I need for my passion for providing preventative care to medically underserved populations to develop into a suitable future career.