Raffaele Macri

Raffaele  is a fourth-year medical student with an interest in infectious disease and emergency medicine. He lived in Madagascar for three years as a Peace Corps Health Volunteer where he discovered a passion for global and tropical medicine. As a health volunteer he trained Community Health Workers in malaria prevention, STIs, contraception, nutrition, vaccination, hygiene and sanitation. He also worked with CDC and USAID as the President's Malaria Initiative Coordinator, where he facilitated trainings for fellow volunteers to help fight malaria on the local level.

Going to school in the Caribbean island of Dominica and providing medical treatment to the indigenous people gave Raffaele a better insight into what his role can be as a future physician, he said. In Dominica, he was the research coordinator for an organization that worked with the indigenous people and was involved in an iron deficiency study in elementary school children throughout the entire island.

Raffaele said he is at his happiest when traveling to new countries, meeting new people  and learning new cultures and languages. He enjoys running, cooking, photography and exploring new cities, and he hopes to contribute to healthcare on a global scale and make a greater impact in healthcare policy and patient care. He wants to obtain a Master’s in Public Health in the future and work with Medecins Sans Frontiers, CDC and/or WHO.

Project: "Infectious diseases prevalent to the African island country of Madagascar"
9/03/2018 - 10/26/2018
Madagascar

 

What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
The Kean Fellowship allows me to go back to a country that I hold very close to my heart and contribute to the health of the population and learn from it. I have learned so much from Madagascar previously, now is my time to give back with what I've learned in medical school. It will allow me to gain insight into some diseases that we only read about in books such as cerebral malaria, cysticercosis and schistosomiasis.

What do you anticipate learning?
I anticipate learning more about neglected diseases that, as a medical student in the U.S., are never encountered. I believe it will give me a better insight into the workings of an international hospital and broaden my clinical experiences. I think that as a medical student and a future physician it is best to see and experience clinical encounters in different formats, under different pressures and with limited resources. This is how we truly learn and put what we have learned to the most use. This is where I am happiest. The Fellowship will allow me to gain necessary experience to one day work for the CDC and/or WHO.

What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
I believe tropical medicine encompasses diseases that affect the world as a whole and kill the most people. Malaria is a worldwide killer and with more physicians and scientists involved we have the potential to eradicate it –if not in our lifetime, very soon. I would like to contribute to that effort, whether in direct patient care, research or policy.