Lauren Weaver

UConn School of Medicine, Class of 2019

I was born in Birdsboro, PA and grew up in Colchester and Groton, CT. In 2015, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Connecticut.

During my undergraduate career at UConn, I went on a service-learning trip to Ghana where I was able to work alongside doctors, dentists and pharmacists serving a community with very limited access to healthcare. This experience sparked my interest in serving the underserved and demonstrated to me the importance of knowledge of a patient’s socioeconomic and cultural background. The challenge was not the diagnosis, but rather communicating and connecting with the patients to understand their needs and to educate them on how to lead a healthier life outside the clinic. I saw discrepancies in health care literacy and access in my own community while volunteering at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Whether it was across the world in a different country or within my own state, I have seen that discrepancies in healthcare can be reversed through active engagement underserved populations. The Urban Service Track will allow me to further my passion for service while working alongside and learning from other professionals in other healthcare fields. It is my goal as a physician to empower my future patients with education and to reach out to those communities that are medically underserved, in order to close the gap in healthcare literacy and access that exists today.