Grace Wang, MS, MPH

Everywhere I have lived, from growing up in Taiwan to moving to California for college, Massachusetts for graduate school, and Pennsylvania for medical school, I find myself repeatedly drawn to working in the ED and giving back to vulnerable populations, especially older adults.

As the first in my family to pursue medicine and move to the States, I obtained three bachelor's degrees at UC Berkeley in MCB: Immunology/Infectious Diseases, Psychology, and Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology. My studies combined my interests in modifiable health factors and behaviors, and I supported older adults in my community both independently and at Oakland’s Sutter Health ED and the Alzheimer’s Services of East Bay.

In Massachusetts, I pursued an MS in Biomedical Sciences and an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. I worked with Tufts’ Palliative Care Department, training MS4s in end-of-life and goals-of-care conversations. As a civilian volunteer for the City of Boston, I planned inclusive events for older community members. During the COVID pandemic, I took care of isolated older adults and worked on ED research at Massachusetts General Hospital on DVTs, PEs, geriatric falls, and the ED Virtual Observation Unit.

Now in medical school, I continue my ED research on sepsis, geriatric falls, EMS decision-making, and hypertension while organizing volunteer opportunities for medical students to help older adults in local nursing homes. My experiences in diverse healthcare settings have strengthened my commitment to emergency medicine and advocating for vulnerable populations, particularly older adults with a focus on social determinants of health.