Rachel Golden

Quinnipiac University Physician Assistant Program

I grew up in Plainview, NY, and graduated from Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in 2020, before attending Quinnipiac University. I graduated from QU summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in health science studies and a minor in biomedical sciences in 2024.

I spent my high school and undergraduate years working at a day camp, where I fell in love with working with children with special needs. I continued fostering this passion through volunteering at a nonprofit indoor gym for children with developmental delays and their siblings, as well as babysitting, including for children with health conditions such as type I diabetes and celiac disease. I have additionally worked as a pharmacy technician, EMT, and home health aide. I have most recently volunteered with Special Olympics Connecticut.

I hope to work with UST in order to learn how I can best make an impact on my patients and their families, especially when they are at their most vulnerable. Childhood illness, special needs, and developmental delays all have a tremendous impact on the families affected by them, but this impact is further exacerbated by socioeconomic barriers to healthcare, which prevent many families from accessing resources that can improve their quality of life. A thorough understanding of the barriers to healthcare that many families experience is integral to my goal to combat those barriers in my practice as a future physician assistant.