Medical School:  Michigan State
Undergrad: Western Michigan University
(French language and literature major) and MA in Medical Anthropology

Heather brings a vast and varied background with her to Northwestern.  Starting out as a French language major, it comes as no surprise that she also speaks Spanish and Haitian Creole.  Heather has two children and the second was born during her first year in medical school.  During her pre-clinical courses Heather worked on the Blantyre Malaria Project and scanned over 1,000 slides and wrote pathology based descriptions for the Cerebral Malaria Autopsy Research Project in Malawi, Africa.  As a medical student, she wrote case studies for the simulated patient interview course that focused on patient’s socioeconomic issues and she acted as a small group facilitator for incoming medical students during orientation.  Prior to entering medical school Heather spent a year as a research assistant in the Harvard Medical School Dept. of Social Medicine.  Heather has a long list of prior volunteer experiences including co-organizer for the Health and Human rights elective and the Community Resource Elective.  She organized a study tour of the Cuban Health Care System and participated in a medical brigade to rural Honduras.  Heather organized 40 students to participate in the Cristo Rey Summer Migrant Health Clinic and she served as Co-Chair for the Physicians for Social Responsibility Chapter at her medical school.  In addition to all of this, Heather was selected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society.