After shadowing health care professionals in high school, Olivia Raymond discovered her love for medicine, ultimately enrolling in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School and joining the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) regional campus track, based at UMass Chan-Baystate in Springfield.

Raymond heard about PURCH while working as a cardiology technician at Holyoke Medical Center.

“I liked the idea of rotating at one hospital and staying at a level one trauma center with an immense amount of resources, exposure and diversity,” Raymond said. “I come from a town where a lot of people look like me, and exposure is incredibly important as someone who wants to be a physician in this area.”

Raymond, who hails from Southwick, hopes to specialize in emergency medicine and serve her community in Western Massachusetts.

“PURCH has prepared me not only with medical knowledge, but for interacting with other care team members, talking to patients and getting to know them on a personal level. PURCH taught me ways to approach sensitive conversations and gave me the right language to use.”

“I had a hard time socially in undergrad, so I was nervous that medical school would be the same, but it’s the complete opposite,” continued Raymond. “I absolutely love my fellow PURCH members, and our professors are incredible role models. Creating lifelong relationships with classmates wasn’t an opportunity I thought about when applying to medical school, but it’s been an amazing bonus and has helped me mentally through difficult times.”

“If you ever have an inkling to apply, never be afraid to try,” Raymond said. “I don’t have anything bad to say about this program—it’s a wonderful opportunity to grow as a student and future doctor.”

In her free time, Raymond loves taking advantage of the Western Massachusetts weather, snowboarding in the winter and golfing in the summer. She also loves horseback riding, reading and baking.