Sundari Birdsall

UConn School of Social Work

I was born in Hamden, CT. I graduated from Oberlin College in 2011, and moved to Colorado.

In Colorado, I worked as a clinical assistant for four years at a women’s clinic that primarily served undocumented women and monolingual Spanish-speakers.

My time at the clinic increased my compassion for vulnerable populations, and was a valuable object lesson on the imbrication of policy and health care. I also volunteered for a rape crisis hotline and for a non-profit dedicated to fighting hunger and malnutrition. Currently, I work for a community mental health center in Tolland County.

I am interested in the opportunity the Urban Service Track provides to familiarize myself with interdisciplinary communication. I hope to eventually work in a medical setting, as I believe social workers are essential to the success of hospitals, safety-net clinics, and community health centers. To succeed in these environments, I will need to be a strong and patient listener, and to understand my colleagues’ medical jargon and points of view. Only as a cohesive medical team will be able to ensure the optimal outcome for each of our patients; I can best receive the prerequisite training for this kind of medical work with the UST.