Alumni-in-Residence: Sign Up for Office Hours with Bessy Birhanu ‘17, 4th-Year Student @ Icahn School of Medicine

The Loeb Center's Alumni-in-Residence program is excited to offer 20-minute, 1-on-1, informational office hour appointments with Bessy Birhanu ‘17. 

How can you find your own unique path to healthcare? How do you stay true to your interests and what you find meaningful, and resist comparing yourself to others in the process? And how do you zoom out to appreciate the ways your unique interests not just enrich your life and help you grow, but also make you a more effective and compassionate healthcare provider? 

Bessy grew up in the Bronx, New York as the daughter of a political asylee from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Her background and upbringing cultivated her interest in health disparities, and her passion for advocacy only grew with time. While at Amherst College, Bessy was involved in all corners of campus life. She majored in anthropology, and feels that this still informs her humanistic and holistic view of medicine.

After graduating in 2017 and completing the post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at Amherst, Bessy returned to New York to attend medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). As at Amherst, Bessy was equally invested in the ISMMS community and held many leadership roles, through them helping to expand resources to asylum seekers in detention centers with the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program and partnering with the administration to advocate for systemic anti-racism changes throughout the medical school and hospital system. Bessy has become more involved in promoting equity through other channels as well by serving as an MD Admissions Committee Member and a Curricular Redesign Committee Member. Bessy remains passionate about reducing health disparities, and she looks forward to engaging in global health opportunities while serving migrant and refugee communities. She is currently a fourth-year medical student applying into combined Medicine-Pediatrics residency programs.

Whether you’re seeking practical advice about your next steps in exploring careers in health, you want to hear more about how your passion for health equity can inform your future work, or you have a commitment to health more broadly and are open to where you might apply it – you’ll find Bessy to be a knowledgeable and supportive resource.