Elisa Gonzalez Cuevas

UConn School of Medicine, Class of 2021

I was born and raised in Mexico City.  I moved to Boston, Massachusetts when I was fourteen, and earned my B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Northeastern University.

In Mexico, I volunteered in a program delivering food to and performing health screenings for malnourished children.  I also visited retirement homes to keep senior residents company.  In the United States, I have volunteered at a poison control center distributing information to local schools on how to prevent poisoning.  I also worked at the Boston Children’s Hospital in a research study trying to discover a genetic cause for rare diseases in children, where I had my first true clinical experience and decided to become a doctor. During the year before starting medical school at UConn, I worked at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital implementing research studies at the Pain Center. I gained experience running clinical trials and performing hands-on patient assessments.  Additionally, I witnessed the effects of the opioid epidemic; this led me to a greater understanding of the challenges pain specialists face balancing pain relief and the risk of substance abuse.

I want to join the Urban Service Track in order to get to know the communities that will surround me when I move to Connecticut, and to contribute to their well-being where I am needed most.  This understanding is a priority for me because I believe that In order to serve patients in the most patient-oriented manner possible, we must first understand their way of life and their communities.