Rose Kazoka

Rose Kazoka, '01

After graduating from Harvard College in 2001, I spent four challenging and rewarding months in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa developing HIV/AIDS curricula for local high schools and working with homeless children. Upon returning to the U.S., I worked at Abt Associates Inc. in Cambridge, in its health policy research division. Since 2003, I have been a student at Harvard Medical School. After finishing my third year in June 2006, I decided to take a year off to do oncology research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

My undergraduate training in sociology provided me with the research, writing, and intellectual discipline to approach my subsequent volunteer, professional, and academic experiences. With these tools, I have been able to bring a unique perspective to the table as I work with my classmates and professors to think about how to address several challenges in medicine. Some of my current interests, for example, include racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare and the roles of poverty and politics in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I am looking forward to graduating from medical school in 2008 and intend to pursue a residency in Internal Medicine. My ultimate goal is to provide medical care to individuals living in underserved areas.