Britney Nathan, a first-year medical student at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and graduate of Hofstra University, grew up in the town next door and has no intentions of leaving anytime soon. She aspires to serve her community of Uniondale, NY as a primary care physician or OB/GYN because she says she sees disparities in access to medical care in comparison to more affluent towns.

Despite a lack of resources in her hometown, Nathan was lucky enough to have exposure to programs during high school that set her on a path to achieving her goals, starting with Hofstra University’s Science Technology Entry Program and then Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine’s Medical Scholars Pipeline Program (MSPP).

She continued to seek out resources throughout college, participating in a variety of diversity pipeline programs including Hofstra’s Collegiate-STEP program and the Northeast Regional Alliance Med Prep program, a partnership between Icahn School of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Manhattan-Staten Island Area Health Education Center and Hofstra Northwell. Without these pipeline programs, Nathan said she believes she wouldn’t have been able to go straight to medical school.

“All of the mentors I gained along the way helped me figure out the next step in preparing for med school, and led me to more programs,” said Nathan. “My mentors played a huge role, and still do, in my ability to succeed.”

Another crucial factor in Nathan’s success was the scholarships that funded her undergraduate education, enabling her to become the first in her family to graduate from college.

Nathan was part of the first cohort of Hofstra Northwell’s MSPP, and she hopes to see more students from the pipeline program, and diverse backgrounds, entering medical school in the coming years.