Hi! My name is Nicolette Alberti. I am a current PGY1 at the University of Illinois- at Chicago in their Internal/Emergency Residency, a program that allows residents to complete 2 3-year residency programs in 5 years. These combined residency programs allow a unique perspective of medicine, especially for someone like me with an interest in incorporating public health into my practice.
My journey to medicine started with post-it note “prescriptions” when I was 5, but has come so far. I studied health sciences while at Ithaca College and applied to med school during my senior year. With little knowledge of the process, I applied to programs largely outside of my reach and did not get in during my first application cycle. I took the next year to get my Master’s in Public Health and applied again, this time finding acceptance into many programs including Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Here, I was able to further develop my passion for working with underserved populations. I found myself lost before applying to residency though, as I truly loved both Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. After learning about combined programs and meeting people in the field, there was no further question on where I belonged.