Pre-Med Student Inspired by Her Own Medical History
At the age of three, Morgan O’Hare '16 was diagnosed with a form a childhood cancer of the eye, known as retinoblastoma, and had to have one of her eyes removed. All the years of close medical attention and therapy, though, is something that she attributes to her interest in medicine today.
“It’s been really eye opening, to use the pun, and I got a lot of exposure to medicine in that way,” she said. “But also my grandfather is a retired physician and my uncle still practices as well. So I’ve always enjoyed going into the office and being in a hospital. I’ve always been inspired by them.”
This summer, Morgan, a rising senior from outside Albany, New York, received the Daniel L. Brindisi ’89 and Cynthia Brindisi P’19 Internship Fellowship. As a biology major in the pre-med track, she shadowed Dr. Robert A Montgomery ’82 and interned at his colleague’s kidney transplant research lab at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
One of the projects she has been tasked with researching is finding ways to increase the success rates of kidney transplant patients.
“I’m focusing more on social behaviors rather than the pathological data itself,” she said. “I’m working right now with a surgery resident on a paper that is looking at how social risks and behaviors affects readmission rates and outcomes. Hopefully, fingers crossed, it will be published soon.”
She attributes her work with the Health Coaches program at St. Lawrence for helping to prepare her to conduct the research she’s doing this summer.
“In the fall, your job as a health coach is to prevent your patient from being readmitted to the hospital, and making sure that they understand their discharge papers, their medication and try to implement changes in their lifestyle behaviors,” Morgan explained. “In the spring, we are paired up with a patient in St. Lawrence County. We make home visits and telephone calls and work with their healthcare team to keep up with those changes. It all ties into the community risks that not only tie into the outcome of the transplant but it can also affect their readmission.”
Another St. Lawrence experience that helped inspire Morgan’s interest in community health was the SLU Buddies program, which she has been involved with since her first year. Students visit elementary and middle schools and work with underprivileged children who often come from broken homes.
“It has been a moving experience,” she said. “It can be incredibly sad to see where these children are brought up, and it really makes me appreciate my upbringing and education at St. Lawrence. It really makes me want to help and advocate for someone who doesn’t have a voice.”
For Morgan, she sees the medical field as a way that she can give back and help others in need.
“I’m very compassionate toward people,” she said. “I really enjoy giving, I enjoy helping, and I really enjoy being an advocate for someone. So, I think the best way to do that would be through medicine. I’ve always found it a beautiful thing."
