BREAK THE CYCLE

My name is Paul Nguyen.
I was part of the Break the Cycle program in 2016 where I worked with LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness to create a music and arts program.
As I draft my personal statement for residency, I began to reflect upon the moments that significantly impacted my life.
 

I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to participate in your program because it sparked my interest in health disparities research, which I plan to continue in my career. 

​

I am now a 4th-year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine and am concurrently obtaining my Masters in Education. Break the Cycle introduced me to the concept of environmental health disparities. I wish I had learned about it earlier, so I am now working with a local high school in Pennsylvania to incorporate more content about environmental health disparities into their curriculum. I still refer to the infographic from your website. 

 

I also continue to use my background in music and the arts, most recently in my global health work where I assisted with HIV research in Zambia and became friends with an underground LGBTQ community there. I attached a recording of my presentation here if you are interested. Because of this work, I was then recruited to join a committee of artists to help design the Hampden Medical Center, a new community hospital in Pennsylvania set to open later this year. 

 

I am still deciding between emergency medicine and anesthesiology, but I know that I want my career to address the cycle of environmental health disparities in a global setting. I wanted you to know the impact Break the Cycle had on me because I would not be where I am now without it, and I attribute much of my interest to your program.

 

​

Paul Nguyen