Sam W. Ho Health Justice Scholars Program

Jesus Mejia (M25)

Jesus Mejia (M25) is one of our HJSP Scholars! Over this past summer, Jesus shadowed in the hospital, was involved in research, and also was a teaching assistant for the Tufts Mini-Med School Program. Jesus also had some time to go back home to St. Louis to see friends and family, and take time out before starting second year!

Ryan Walker, MD, MPH

Dr. Walker is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Assistant Course Director for Competency-Based Apprenticeship in Primary Care (CAP). Dr. Walker is a 2022 graduate of Lawrence Family Medicine Residency, 2018 graduate of Tufts SOM's MD/MPH program, and an alum of the Health Justice Scholars Program. In addition to her board certification in Family Medicine, Dr. Walker has a concentration in Integrative Medicine and Obesity Medicine. She also has specific clinical interests in reproductive health, addiction medicine, community organizing, and patient education. Academically, Dr. Walker is most passionate about teaching and mentoring. In fact, she serves as a Board Member of the Association of Black Family Medicine Physicians (ABFMP) and spearheads an annual Application series guiding 4th-year medical students through the residency application process, connects students with mentors, and mentors a number of students herself.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her significant other, dog, and family, playing card games, traveling, meditating, and learning about finances, generational wealth building, and entrepreneurship. In the Fall, Dr. Walker will begin practicing as a primary care clinician and serving her National Health Service Corps commitment at Lynn Community Health Center.

Applications are now open for the M26 Sam W. Ho Health Justice Scholars Class! We encourage students with a passion for service and a drive to learn how they can make that service more equitable, sustainable, and transformational to apply! For more information, please visit our website!

https://medicine.tufts.edu/academics/medicine/sam-w-ho-health-justice-scholars-program

Hey Tufts University School of Medicine M26's! Interested in applying to HJSP and want to learn more? Come hear from faculty and current students at our virtual info session Wednesday evening 7-8 PM (check your email for details). You can also check out our website https://medicine.tufts.edu/academics/medicine/sam-w-ho-health-justice-scholars-program. Hope to see you Wednesday!

Sam W. Ho Health Justice Scholars Program | Tufts University School of Medicine To develop physician-leaders and scholars with the mission, vision, and ability to transform healthcare in partnership with communities.

Ifechi Okonkwo, M25, MS

Ifechi Okonkwo is an M25 HJSP Scholar. This summer, she has been working on research on health literacy and informed consent, looking particularly at minority and underserved populations at Tufts University School of Medicine. Her projects seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the key information section of informed consent forms for different on-going clinical studies and compare the readability, understandability, accessibility, decisional capacity, trust, language and communication, and understanding of the clinical trial. The project compares the original informed consent form with a modified informed consent form to assess the decisional capacity of patients enrolling in a clinical research study.

Madeline Valverde (M25, MD/MPH)

Madeline Valverde is one of our HJSP Scholars! This summer, she has been participating in her MPH summer field experience through the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She has been helping with the Functional Outcomes Reported after Trauma Emergencies (FORTE) Study. The FORTE Study focuses on improving long-term outcomes of trauma patients after discharge by utilizing a patient-centered approach. Her role entails contacting post-surgical patients via phone to collect data regarding their health status and analyzing the outcomes of post-operative care/complication at 6 months and 12 months post discharge. Madeline is specifically focusing her research on whether differences exist between Spanish-Speaking Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic white adult trauma patients.