Kristen Segars, MD/PhD Student
Kristen Segars was not one of those medical students with an early and all-consuming focus on medical school and becoming a doctor.
At BU, you don’t get pigeonholed. “They let you explore and engage in multidisciplinary research. It really encourages us to get out of our comfort zones, to develop a lot of different skill sets.
Kristen Segars, MD/PhD Student
“I actually wanted to be a fashion designer,” said Segars, an MD/PhD student, who has completed the research portion of her combined degree, successfully defended her doctoral thesis, and is now in her final year of her medical education.
Originally a business major as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Segars found herself drawn to her science classes. She also found she enjoyed interacting with patients and staff in a job at UNC University Hospitals and her focus shifted to becoming physician/scientist.
Segars chose the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine because there were great research opportunities, and its primary teaching affiliate Boston Medical Center provided opportunities to work in a safety net hospital and serve marginalized and underserved communities.
She liked that the school’s clinical and research programs were integrated, and she appreciated that BU supported student exploration of varied research interests.
“At BU, you don’t get pigeonholed,” said Segars. “They let you explore and engage in multidisciplinary research. It really encourages us to get out of our comfort zones, to develop a lot of different skill sets.”
Segars appreciated the support the school provided to MD/PhD students especially during stressful transition periods from academic medical education into research and then back into the clinical years of the MD program.
“The good thing about this program is that they are aware that those are challenging times for students,” said Segars. “Students struggle a lot with adjusting to a lab, or adjusting to being back in clinic, and they have a lot of resources to help us transition.”