Student Spotlight Alyssa Lolofie Medical A Bit about Alyssa My name is Alyssa Lolofie. I’m a Samoan American medical student at the University of Utah. I grew up in Murray/Holladay with my parents and my sister, Kali. As a child and teen, I danced hula, which I appreciate now because I learned about and stayed connected with my culture. I went to the University of Utah and earned a B.S. in Biomechanical Engineering with a minor in Chemistry. I was always interested in science and knew that I also wanted a career where I could work with people; medicine is the best mix of both. These days, keeping up with my hobbies is hard because I feel like I’m always so busy with school, but when I have time, I like to spend it with my friends and family, bake, and travel. I’ll have more time this winter, so I’m thinking about re-learning how to ski since I haven’t skied in almost 20 years. The Path to Medicine I was always interested in science, but my interest in medicine developed later in my teens. Science and mathematics were fun; there was always something more to learn and discover. What I knew about science told me that careers included researching things in a room all by myself or very few people, and I wanted to talk to people. So, I kept looking and found that medicine was a great combination of science and human interaction, and I decided that becoming a physician was the job for me. In high school, I took a class called “the block” – a combination of math and physics – and each year, I expanded on what we learned. By my senior year of high school, I took combined AP Calculus II and AP Physics A/B. The teachers for this class were so supportive of me and pushed me to continue pursuing science in college. Their intervention and support helped me apply for scholarships (like ACCESS for Women in Mathematics and Science) that would shape my education. During college, I had the opportunity to research in a lab at the Moran Eye Center. I found out quickly that basic science research was fun but lonely, and actually sitting in a room doing research by myself was not for me. While science is fun, working with people is more important for me. At the University of Utah, I enjoyed applying science to medicine with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. Still, after I graduated, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do more school. I took a few years off, continued to work as a research assistant, and volunteered weekly at the Hope Clinic. (The Hope Clinic is a free medical clinic for uninsured and lowincome patients in Midvale, UT, fully staffed by volunteers.) The providers at this clinic are also volunteers, but it wasn’t just the medical care they provide that was so impressive to me. They’re donating time each week to see patients, educate pre-medical students, and create a deeper connection with the communities they are serving. I found my love for medicine again and felt ready to go back to school. Medical School at the University of Utah I grew up in Utah, with a lot of my family around, and when it came time to apply to medical school, I didn’t want to leave. My Polynesian community and the community I had made for myself as a pre-medical Medical Student | Continued on page 20 19 |
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