Tavia Augustin, a 17-year-old Haitian American from Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood, has always wanted to help people. In middle school, that looked like a future career in social work. Today, reinforced by a summer internship through The Pathway Initiative Inc. (TPI), Tavia has her sights set on a medical career, and a future as a nurse practitioner.
A junior at Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, Mass., Tavia keeps busy as vice president of the school’s diversity and inclusion club, co-captain of the step team, and a member of the cheerleading squad and theater program. Outside of school, she is a part of the Keystone Club at her local Boys & Girls Club, which inspires leadership in young people. It was through the Keystone Club that she first heard of TPI, when one of TPI’s former board members, Charis Loveland, came to speak with the teenagers about their career goals and Tavia shared her dreams of becoming a nurse.
“I’m really interested in science, and my mom and aunt are nurses, so after middle school I became interested in being a nurse. When I found out about nurse practitioners, I fell in love with the idea,” Tavia recalls. “I’m used to being around the medical field, but I would have never known about TPI without Charis”
Tavia applied to TPI in spring 2024 and was selected to intern alongside eight other high school students at Boston Medical Center’s Pathology Department that summer. The students would start each day with a talk from someone at the hospital or the Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, usually from someone of color, about their journey to becoming a medical professional. After lunch, they would rotate through different areas of pathology and come back and take notes reflecting on their experiences. Tavia’s favorite? “Surgical pathology. We got to see a decapitated leg!”
“The staff at BMC were so nice and really passionate about their work,” she continues. “They inspired me through the hard times of the internship when I couldn’t understand something or was having a hard time with something.”
Aside from teaching her more about pathology and tissue collection, Tavia met fellow students from Boston through the program, something she appreciated as someone who lives in Boston but attends school south of the city. Plus, she is already putting her experience to work as she’s returned to her studies at Cardinal Spellman.
“I’m taking anatomy right now. The TPI experience has aided me in my science journey by giving me more background related to tissue that my peers don’t have,” she says. Her other big supporter in science is her mom, Myriam, who Tavia describes as a “lowkey science nerd.”
“My mom is a great sounding board,” she says. “I ask her questions about things in the medical field all the time and she’s helped me feel more secure about my career choice. She’s been a great influence on me and a very supportive mom.”
Halfway through her junior year, Tavis is looking ahead to colleges. She hopes to attend a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), or stay local and attend Boston University or Simmons University, where her mom went. No matter where she lands, Tavia is excited about what lies ahead, and about the part she can play in increasing diversity in the medical field.
“It’s important that the person who your life depends on understands what your day-to-day life is like, whether that’s your diet as someone from the Caribbean or other health concerns you might have,” she says. “TPI has an amazing mission that the medical field should reflect the diverse world we’re living in. This program has given students like me the opportunity to explore their passions and see if the field is right for them.”
“I’m looking forward to everything about my medical journey! It’s such an interesting field and one that’s ever-changing, especially with technology,” she continues. “Right now, every experience is a new experience for me when it comes to the medical field, and I want to experience everything before I make a decision on a specialty. I don’t think I could do any other profession.”
Help students like Tavia achieve their dreams of a career in medicine by donating to The Pathway Initiative today. Every dollar makes a difference and helps alleviate barriers underrepresented students face in their medical career journey.