Former Dartmouth Medical School dean Dr. Rolf Syvertsen fostered academic accomplishment and scientific rigor, a passion for learning, and a love of medicine, and cultivated in students a deep sense of human concern, community spirit, and citizenship. Today, the Syvertsen Scholars and Fellows program honors fourth-year Geisel School of Medicine students who exemplify the qualities he stood for.
2022-23 Syvertsen Fellow
Arvind Suresh ’23 graduated from Dartmouth College in 2019, where he studied biology and computer science. At Geisel, Arvind furthered his interests in health equity as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow working to address food insecurity in rural NH and VT communities and served on the Physicians for Human Rights National Student Advisory Board. He led student vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, which earned him the Excellence in Public Health Award from the United States Public Health Service, and the Upper Valley Human Rights Clinic, which provides forensic medical and psychological evaluations for individuals seeking asylum. Throughout his four years at Geisel, Arvind has worked with his peers to develop a longitudinal curriculum for patients with disabilities and, with the Office of Student Affairs, built a longitudinal career advising and peer mentoring program. He researches to improve outcomes for patients with hematologic malignancies and received a grant from the American Society of Hematology to study early neurotoxicity in patients following CAR T-cell therapy.
2022-23 Syvertsen Scholars
Aya Bashi ’23 earned her HBSc. in Global Health and Human Physiology from the University of Toronto. She then pursued an MPH in Epidemiology with a women’s health focus at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. At Dartmouth, Aya was an Albert Schweitzer Fellow and was involved in various advocacy initiatives. She also served on several medical education committees that promoted inclusive learning environments at Geisel. She has a particular interest in gynecologic surgical equity and access to surgical care for underserved populations.
Kennedy Jensen ’23 earned her B.A. in Anthropology and Biochemistry at Dartmouth College, where she also competed as a distance runner. Upon graduation, Kennedy was awarded a Lombard Public Service Fellowship to advance health equity in the Canadian Arctic. When she returned to Dartmouth for medical school, she focused her time outside the classroom on advocacy, mentorship and teaching. She is applying into General Surgery with interests at the overlap of remote health systems strengthening, trauma and critical care, and health equity.
Colin McLeish ’23 is a MD/MBA student with the Tuck School of Business. His interests in access and affordability led him to organize for universal health care, where he served as a national delegate to Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) and locally on the board of Good Neighbor Health Clinic. At Geisel, he was editor-in-chief of Lifelines, Student Government Chair of Wellness, and led the Internal Medicine Interest Group and Ethics Interest Group. He is a recipient of the David A. Winston Health Policy Scholarship (2022) and Leopold Schepp Foundation Scholarship (2022).
Linda Morris ’23 joined the MGH Proton Radiation Research Team and worked with patients with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies. She became interested in supporting patients’ highest possible quality of life while offering new clinical trial solutions. At Geisel, she coupled her hospice companion work with her interest in clinical research as a Translational Oncology Program Scholar at the Dartmouth Cancer Center. She became invested in peer advocacy and collaborating to propose new education policies and held positions as leader of Medical Education Scholars and student body Chair of Academics.
Isabelle Tersio ’23 attended the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in Biological Basis of Behavior. She is going into pediatrics and worked as a former garden and cooking teacher, where she developed ways to help kids learn about themselves, others, and their sense of autonomy. While at Dartmouth, she has held leadership roles as the Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, as well as student representative on the Restorative Justice Committee and Committee for a Respectful Learning Environment. Further, she has been an active tutor and enjoys near-peer mentorship.
