VUSM Student Stories

By Kyra Letsinger Following your dreams is a phrase so often repeated it can lose its impact. It seems simple: you listen to your heart and pursue the path to get there. In reality, achieving one’s dreams is not for the faint of heart. It is for those who are… Read More

By Kyra Letsinger Brian DuVal, MPH ’26 For many Vanderbilt Master of Public Health students on the health policy track, working directly with politicians to lobby for policy is a dream experience, a stepping stone toward making the changes that inspired them to pursue the field in the… Read More

M4 Medical Scholar Alison Swartz reflects on the unique opportunity to conduct her own year-long research project. Alison Swartz at a VUSM community event At Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, student research is woven into all four years of the MD curriculum, but often that research must fall within the… Read More

M3 Maddy Ball traveled to Barcelona, Spain, for a year-long research project Maddy Ball is no stranger to travel. Maddy Ball hikes all over the world. Her favorite trails in Tennessee include Fiery Gizzard and nearby Beaman Park. A native of Mill Valley, California, just outside of San Francisco, she… Read More

When William Quach (MD ’23) arrived at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine after studying biology at the University of California San Diego, he brought research experience with him. Quach, an aspiring anesthesiologist, examined how a specific protein traditionally known to play a role in the death of cells actually… Read More

By: Kyra Letsinger From left, Global Health Track Co-Director Dr. Elizabeth Rose, Tevin Mathew, Anjola Ajayi, and Global Health Track Co-Director Dr. Marie Martin (Photo: Terry Wyatt) When applying to Vanderbilt’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program, prospective students immediately face a pivotal choice: Do they want to follow… Read More

Elizabeth in her first year at VUSM. Growing up in a musical family, fourth-year Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) student Elizabeth Grossman always had an interest in the way sound shapes our world. As a student at Washington University in St. Louis, she… Read More

Photo: @SAA_Vanderbilt on Instagram For fourth-year Doctor of Audiology (AuD) student Aspen Bombardo, the path to pediatric audiology started with a love of learning languages and a passion for working with kids. Full of ambition and an eagerness to bridge her interests, Aspen went on a potential career deep-dive… Read More

Eskind Biomedical Library is a building that wears many hats. Beyond just a library, it’s a classroom, a gathering space, a historical archive, and a place where administrative magic happens. But EBL became something else entirely when engaged M4s Simone and Thomas Ueland asked Senior Associate Dean for Medical… Read More

By Kyra Letsinger Michael Greenberg and Yanelis Diaz Greenberg during their time as undergrads at the University of Central Florida. There is an old saying about young love that many pass off as nothing but a myth: “When you know you know.”  Vanderbilt University School of Medicine M4 Yanelis Diaz… Read More