Saadiya Dalal

UConn School of Medicine

I was born in Hartford, CT and grew up in East Hartford and Glastonbury, CT. I received my B.S. in Biological Sciences with a minor in Human Rights from the University of Connecticut in the Spring of 2018.

At UConn, I served as a Trip Director for the Community Outreach Alternative Break program. My involvement began as a participant on an alternative break focused on the issue of health care access to Philadelphia, PA. I then led two trips, one focused on homelessness in Boston, MA and one focused on urban poverty and civil rights in Birmingham, AL. Through my role as trip director, I participated in direct as well as indirect service and educated my peers on social activism.

The Urban Service Track will teach me the skills and leadership necessary to be a physician that is also a social justice leader, a community member, and a support system for patients. I aspire to be a physician who prioritizes her community. I want to view health holistically, to understand the obstacles to quality health care, and to establish relationships of trust and communication with my patients. The UST’s supplementary training to a conventional medical curriculum will allow me to become a culturally-competent medical professional who treats my patients with the dignity they deserve regardless of their identity.