Home > Prospective Students > Student and Faculty Profiles > Erika Avery

Student and Faculty Profiles

Meet Erika...

Class: 2009
Hometown: Oxford, Connecticut
Undergrad: University of Connecticut
Major: Combined Program in Medicine
Program: M.D.

My interest in medicine began probably even before I had started school. My father is a biology professor and delighted in taking my sister and me into work with him to set up dissection labs and demonstrations. My love of science and medicine was cultivated all throughout high school with the help of my anatomy and chemistry teachers and volunteer work at the local hospital which ultimately led me to attend the University of Connecticut in Storrs through the Combined Program in Medicine. There, I was given tremendous opportunities to expand my interests through active research. I worked for three years studying comparative renal physiology with Dr. Larry Renfro and eventually completed a senior thesis with him.

During the summer, I was given the opportunity to explore other interests through the UConn Summer Research Fellowship. I worked in the lab of Dr. Stephen Wikel of the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis at UConn Health Center studying a component of tick pathogenesis. In the meantime, I participated in several shadowing opportunities, following various physicians in their daily routines in departments such as trauma surgery, radiology, and pathology.

However, the greatest influence on my continued dedication to enter a career in medicine was the time I spent with my chronically ailing grandmother in Japan. I had the opportunity to visit with her in Japan for over two months and actively participate in her care. I became interested in the differences between Japanese and American healthcare, both in the actual delivery and in the patient/physician interaction. I plan to pursue further experiences in international healthcare, and this interest has led to my accepting an Air Force medical school scholarship. Through the military, I hope to have the opportunity to travel and participate in humanitarian efforts in underserved areas.

While my research and medical experiences were extremely important in my decision to enter medicine, many of my activities outside the realm of science and medicine helped me realize that medicine is more than science and treating illness but must involve a connection with the patients. I enjoy playing a Japanese harp called the koto, and I have spent the past five years giving volunteer performances around Connecticut and educating people about the instrument, music and Japanese culture and spreading global awareness. My experiences playing for and interacting with various age groups and ethnicities has enriched my knowledge of other people, and I know will help me in understanding my patients better and make our interactions more rewarding.

Another aspect of my extracurricular activities that has been influential in my development as a future physician has been my teaching experience. A physician is as much a healer as an educator, and being able to communicate information to a patient is an important skill. My teaching experience spans working as a tennis instructor to students aged six to 46, tutoring SAT verbal skills to high school students, and teaching an MCAT preparatory course to college students. I like to think that these activities will help me in the future with educating my own patients.

UConn School of Medicine was an especially good fit for me because of the community of students. We are a diverse group of people of varying backgrounds and differing interests, and I felt that I could continue my outside interests without hindrance. In fact, I have felt encouraged to cultivate my pursuit of music and culture and have even taken up other interests, such as West African dance, something I never though I would encounter. I am constantly learning something new about each and every one of us, and I’m sure I will continue to do so throughout my four years here.

In addition to the student culture, I have had the opportunity to get involved with several community programs that have increased my interaction and awareness of populations with which I would otherwise have very little contact. Through the Hartford Health Education program, I teach sixth graders in the inner city school system about issues very much relevant to their development and community but to which they would otherwise have very little exposure due to budget cuts. Through the Migrant Farm Workers Clinic, I met and interviewed several Jamaican workers and learned about a lifestyle quite foreign to my own. And finally, through the health education program at the American School for the Deaf, I have the unique opportunity to prepare high school senior girls who are hearing-impaired for entry into mainstream society, all through an interpreter. All these experiences have already left an indelible mark on my development as a person and as a future physician. They are experiences I will take with me throughout my career.