Mary Cate Gallagher '19

From working in an HIV clinic in South Africa to interning with a cardiac surgery unit in New Jersey to serving as a tester and counselor with AIDS Project Rhode Island, Mary Cate Gallagher ’19, who has been admitted to the Physician Assistant Program at the Yale School of Medicine, is building the skills and experience she’ll need to ensure that her future patients receive the best care.

“I want to be able to have a tangible impact on my patients' lives and for them to see that, even in a really dark time, someone’s willing to advocate for them and work in their favor,” says Gallagher.

Her professors and mentors in Bryant’s pre-health program helped Gallagher prepare for such a goal. “The direct access to professors really makes the program stand out,” she says. “For an 18-year-old, being able to form a relationship with someone who is an expert in their field is a special interaction.”

The program, says Gallagher, goes beyond teaching biology and chemistry; it exposes you to a wider world. “The professors don’t just answer your questions. They’ll help you think about what you’re doing and guide you to explore directions you may not have thought of.”

Their guidance helped her discover a new way to advocate for patients, and help them stay healthy. “In my immunology classes with Professor Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D., we learned about the socioeconomic influences that affect medicine and disease spread,” she says. “Not just the direct treatment of illness, but the larger causes.”

Inspired, Gallagher, a member of the Honors Program, spent nearly two years on her honors thesis researching Rhode Island's policies surrounding Hepatitis C treatment, and how they can be improved. “The project was based in medicine,” she explains, “but it was mostly about how society treats medicine and people who are sick.”

"My honors thesis was one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had and I would not trade it for the world,” explains Gallagher, who notes that being able to point to the work she did for the project helped her immensely when applying to Yale.

That’s a key to success, she says: Being able to take a step back and think of the roots of a problem instead of just seeing and reacting to the symptoms. “I think the classes here have taught me that – to just take a breath and look at things from a different angle.”

Real World Experience