Growing up in Grand Rapids, Olivia Jeong always knew the University of Michigan was her dream school.
Jeong spent her first two years as a biology major in LSA on the pre-med track. She was accepted into the School of Public Health — which only conducts a two-year program for juniors and seniors — during her sophomore year.
Research has been a fundamental component of Jeong’s undergraduate experience. She worked with the Michigan State College of Human Medicine’s obstetrics and gynecology office in her hometown the summer after her freshman year to conduct research on endometrial cancer.
Through U-M’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, she joined a social psychology lab focused on interpersonal relationships to study how stress impacts romantic relationships.
This past year, Jeong joined a lab in Michigan Medicine’s internal medicine department to study rare extrahepatic bile duct and liver diseases.
“Research has definitely shaped my perspectives of public health and given meaning to so many little things I’ve done throughout my undergrad career, and it makes me think beyond what I am doing at the individual level because of the broader implications that scientific research can have.”
Through her involvement with the School of Public Health, Jeong joined Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization that allows students to volunteer with local school systems to promote educational equity and accessibility. This spring, she helped bring physicians to talk with high school students about a career in medicine.
“It’s very fulfilling to hear the positive feedback from the high schoolers and administration to know that we are making meaningful impacts. Applying the frameworks and concepts we learned from class to create these community programs has really allowed me to put public health into practice,” Jeong said.
Throughout her undergraduate years, Jeong also has worked as a Michigan Public Health Admissions Ambassador, an administrative assistant with Michigan Medicine, and as an intern with A2-Advance, a nonprofit that provides free resources to previously incarcerated individuals, immigrant families and others needing support in Washtenaw County.
A gymnast and diver in high school, Jeong now spends her free time running and doing yoga. After running her third half-marathon in April, she plans to continue training to run marathons in the future.
Jeong plans to apply to medical schools in the coming months, and hopes to spend the year between undergraduate and medical school working in a public health consulting position in Boston.
“I’m looking forward to future opportunities I might encounter that allow me to promote community and population health wherever I am,” Jeong said.
