At her diverse Boston-area middle school, Kristina Honda, a Haitian-Japanese American and the daughter of immigrants, was at the top of her class, always participating and acing her courses. But when she entered high school and saw fewer students who looked like her, she lost a lot of innate confidence in herself, her ideas, and her value. It wasn’t until summer 2024, when she interned with The Pathway Initiative Inc. (TPI), a non-profit dedicated to increasing diversity in the medical field, that her sense of self and purpose returned.
“I used to be very quiet at school before the program because I felt like my ideas were insignificant,” says Kristina, 16. “During the orientation at TPI, when one of the instructors, Emma Akuffo, from Harvard Medical School shared her experience being an immigrant, that was the first time in a long time that I felt like I really mattered. I kept that feeling with me for the rest of the program and even now. The program reminded me of my worth, and now I’m an A student again.”
A junior at Boston Latin School, Kristina has long dreamed of being a doctor. She always enjoyed visiting her pediatrician, Dr. Tracey Daley, a Black woman with whom she identifies strongly; the two even went to the same high school. While Kristina was lucky to have a doctor who looks like her, across the United States, many people are not as fortunate, and studies consistently show that patients have better outcomes and more trust when they have doctors who look like them—a problem TPI is working to solve by alleviating barriers for people of color, typically underrepresented in the medical field, to becoming doctors.
Inspired by her pediatrician, Kristina is pursuing her medical interest by serving as vice president of the FemInSTEM club at Boston Latin, which hosts speakers in the STEM field to spark interest in students, particularly those in underrepresented communities. She also participates in show choir, serves as a tutor for younger children, volunteers with senior citizens every Friday, and helps folks in her community at the Roslindale Community Center. Kristina learned about the TPI summer internship program at school and was excited about the opportunity to intern with other students like her.
“What makes this program different from other medical programs is that they really emphasize diversity. I see a lot of people who look like me and have the same interests as me, which is a big difference from my school,” she says.
Kristina spent the summer of 2024 with eight other students at Boston Medical Center’s Pathology Department, under the guidance of Christopher D. Andry, MPhil, PhD, chief and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Family Medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. From Monday through Thursday, the students would hear from Dr. Andry and his colleagues about various components of the pathology department with Dr. Andry starting each day with important terms to know and the rest of the day spent in various labs learning from other doctors, researchers, and professionals.
“I learned there’s a lot of different fields related to pathology,” Kristina says. “BMC workers would come and share their experience, what they do and how they got to that point, and that’s how I got interested in family medicine, from one of the speakers. We also had many hands-on experiences and got exposure to different types of biotech equipment. On the very first day, we learned how to use some of these tools while analyzing part of a kidney, which was a great introduction to pathology.”
On Fridays, interns from Kristina’s group and other internship sites would gather for a Zoom session on the soft skills needed for a career in medicine and how to care for their mental health as medical professionals.
For Kristina, the summer internship may have only been 10 weeks, but the experience has stayed with her—and given her lots to consider about her future.
“I hope to continue doing internships and building my CV, and hope to stay here in Boston for college since it’s the best area for hospitals and research,” she says. “I’ve always tried helping people with my volunteer work and clubs, and I hope to continue doing that in the future, helping people with their health and helping them live longer and better.”
“TPI supported and enriched my journey toward my long-standing dream of being a doctor, by focusing on students like me,” Kristina continues. “This program boosted my chances of being able to achieve my dreams. In the end, the more students who can pursue medicine and participate in programs like TPI, the more people we can all help in the future.”
Help more students like Kristina 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.