Madeline Valverde, M25
How have your experiences at Tufts prepared you for your future career?
My experiences at Tufts have provided me an invaluable foundation for my future career as a physician committed to serving underserved communities and advancing health equity. Through its accelerated MD/MPH program, I gained critical skills in public health, community-based research, and health systems thinking. These tools have enhanced the way I approach clinical care, allowing me to see my patients in the context of the broader structural and social determinants impacting their health.
Through the Sam W, Ho Health Justice Scholars program I was continuously challenged to think critically about health disparities and my role in addressing them. The programs emphasis on community engagement, advocacy and systems level change deepened my commitment and helped shape my identity as a future advocate.
Can you share a memorable experience from your time at Tufts that has left a lasting impression on you?
The environment at TUSM will forever remain unparalleled. It has deeply prepared me for a career dedicated to patient centered care. Since the start of medical school, you are pushed to become a compassionate and thoughtful clinician, seeing and understanding patients as a whole. I have felt seen, mentored, and uplifted in every way, especially as a first-generation Latina in Medicine, and feel fortunate to have spent the past four years here.
If you could go back to before you started at Tufts and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
If I could give myself one piece of advice, I would say imposter syndrome is everywhere, but it does not define you. Everyone is struggling in their own way and your only true competition is yourself. I would also remind myself that while it is easy to give every second of your life to medicine, you are a person outside of it too. An hour spent with friends or a quiet moment to yourself will not set you back. Embrace the small moments because it goes by too fast!
What are your aspirations and goals beyond graduation, both personally and professionally?
After graduation, I will be starting my general surgery residency. I aspire to become a trauma surgeon working in a safety net hospital that serves largely Spanish-speaking and underserved communities. I am drawn to its acuity and intensity, but also the long-term impact that surgical intervention can have on patients facing their most vulnerable moments.
With my background in public health, I hope to address systemic inequities such as lack of access, linguistic barriers, and inadequate follow up with my patients. I am also interested in global surgery as a way of integrating my MPH. Beyond the clinical space, I feel a strong responsibility to serve as a mentor for student who, like me, are first-generation, children of immigrants, and underrepresented in medicine. I know firsthand how powerful it is to see someone who looks like you doing what you aspire to do, and I want to pay that forward.
How have your research interests developed during your degree, and what impact do you aim to make in your field?
I was involved with the FORTE project, a multi-institutional study across three level-1 trauma centers in Boston, examining long-term outcomes in adults after traumatic injury. My specific research focused on the significance of language barriers, specifically limited English proficiency, within Hispanic/Latino patients. My hope is that this type of research will continue to highlight under-explored barriers and improve the quality and equity of surgical care and recovery for marginalized patients.
Can you describe a clinical or public health experience that shaped your view on health equity and social determinants of health?
Through my research, I conducted follow-up calls with Spanish-speaking trauma patients at 6 and 12 months after their injury, often hearing firsthand how language barriers impacted their recovery. One story that has stayed with me was a patient who, after sharing the many challenges she faced, told me her surgeon had asked her why she had not bothered to learn English after living in this country for so long. Her pain wasn’t just physical, it was tied to feeling unwelcome and dismissed. That moment reinforced how deeply language and dignity are tied to health.
How has this dual degree program shaped your identity as a physician?
The MD/MPH has shaped me into a physician who sees patients not only as individuals, but as members of broader social systems. Growing up, I often interpreted for my parents in medical settings, witnessing firsthand how language barriers and health system complexity affected care. This fueled my desire to gain a deeper understanding of the structural forces impacting health. While my MD training taught me how to diagnose and treat illness, my MPH equipped me to understand and challenge the systems that perpetuate disparities.
What inspired you to pursue a medical career that focuses on traditionally undeserved patient populations?
I was raised in a Spanish-speaking immigrant household, where language barriers often led to a sense of separation and distrust between us and our healthcare providers. As a child, we relied solely on public transportation, turning clinic visits into day-long journeys just to access free or low-cost care that accepted our public insurance. Having personally navigated these challenges, I am driven to return to similar environments, especially within the fast-paced world of surgery, to help bridge these gaps and ensure patients feel seen, heard, and supported during some of their most vulnerable moments.
How has the Sam W. Ho Health Justice Scholars Program prepared you for a career in advocacy and intervention?
The Health Justice Scholar program has been instrumental in preparing me for a career rooted in advocacy. It created space for us to engage deeply with issues that are often avoided and the lived experiences of marginalized communities. The program challenged us to lean into discomfort, viewing it as a powerful driver of growth and transformation. Through clinical work in underserved settings and the development of longitudinal, community-centered projects, I learned how to not only identify gaps in care, but to advocate for meaningful and lasting change.
Most importantly, the program connected me with a community of like-minded peers and mentors who remind me that this work, while challenging, is also collaborative and deeply impactful.