Raquel Mijangos

Raquel is looking forward to a career in medicine, and hopes to earn both an MD and a Master of Public Health (MPH). As an undergraduate she is already engaged in pursuits to further these goals. She works as an intern with the Scripps Research Institute where she has gained “valuable exposure of research relevant to my field of study through a biomedical lens.” She is a member of the Triton Brain Injury Network on campus. As a peer support volunteer, she provides recreational support to a traumatic brain injury survivor and helps create care packages for survivors. She also volunteers with Roots of Care for Refugees, where she helps facilitate a free health clinic for local refugee populations. She performs basic clinical tasks such as checking blood pressure and glucose and informs patients of available resources.

Growing up in a mostly Latino neighborhood in Los Angeles, Raquel witnessed first hand how systemic barriers could prevent people from getting needed healthcare. What she observed both during and following the covid pandemic “fueled my passion for medicine and desire to help dismantle healthcare inequities.” She not only wants to treat individual patients but work as an advocate for change. She believes that the combined MD and MPH degrees will equip her with “the tools and knowledge to address healthcare disparities…faced by underserved communities.” Ultimately she hopes to go on medical missions where medical infrastructure is lacking. This summer she began volunteering at a medical mission in Tecate where she helps set up for ophthalmological procedures such as cataract surgery.

Raquel has other interests as well. Through the Health and Anti-Recidivism Project she volunteers as a math tutor for children impacted by the carceral system. In her free time, she enjoys playing the guitar, surfing, and spending time with her four cats.

She attends John Muir College and is a PATHS Scholar, a program for high achieving but underrepresented STEM students. Raquel has faced challenges and instability growing up but believes that these have only made her more resilient and determined.