For Yasmeen Alcodray, making a difference is about helping others with their quiet struggles.

“In my own small way, I’m working to give back — feeding and providing for the homeless, mentoring disabled students, supporting immigrants,” she said. “[My mission] is to help people who feel like they don’t have a voice.”

Alcodray is deeply involved in her community, particularly when it comes to healthcare. She volunteers with the Lions Club to help provide medical access to underserved communities and with the Arab American Health Initiative to educate the community on health matters. And she’s involved with the Beaumont Children’s Center for Exceptional Families, where she works one-on-one with a student with cerebral palsy and autism. 

Still, she says, one of her most rewarding off-campus experiences has been her time with the Beaumont Hospice Program.

“This experience has provided me with a whole new outlook on the medical field,” she said. “I have had life-changing experiences through hospice, and I am grateful to be there to support the patients and their families.”

It may come as little surprise, given her off-campus activities, that Alcodray plans to pursue a career in medicine. She’s interested in geriatrics, a speciality that focuses on the health of the elderly population and the diseases involved in aging.

As she moves forward, Alcodray said she’ll focus on far more than just addressing a person’s symptoms, saying, “Treating patients rather than just treating the diseases is important to me because everyone deserves individualized care, and I hope to apply that in all the work that I will be doing in the future.”