Melissa Hernandez

Melissa Hernandez was sitting in eighth grade class when she opened her textbook and saw a diagram of the brain.

“I was just fascinated,” she recalls. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling. I just thought, ‘This is incredible.’ It really made me want to learn about psychology and combine that with medicine.”

Today, she begins her studies at FIU – her dream school – with the goal of preparing to become a neurologist. “I want to stress that you have to have compassion for the patients,” she says. “It’s not just about looking at them as a diagram. It’s more about seeing who they are and how to have compassion for them and give them the right care.”

She graduated from Cooper City High School in the top two percent of her class. She earned her Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) diploma, received an award for excellence in statistics, and took a number of dual enrollment courses. Hernandez served as treasurer of her school’s Future Medical Professionals of America chapter. She was also heavily involved in her school’s Best Buddies club, through which she discovered her desire to work with people with intellectual disabilities.

She volunteered at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, where she interacted with pediatric patients during playtime. She also volunteered at First Choice Neurology, where she shadowed pediatric neurologists. This summer, she went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, where she worked with doctors to provide care to people in underserved communities and shadowed doctors during surgeries.

Hernandez’s father, a doctor from Cuba, is her role model of a dedicated physician. And her mother, who is active in the church, is her role model of service. Hernandez is following in their footsteps and dedicating herself to faith, community and medicine. For years, she has volunteered to help organize food drives at New Horizon Church. Through a Catholic nonprofit, she helped provide food and baby shower baskets to pregnant mothers in need. During high school, she also began working part-time at a Jewish community center, caring for children after school.

Hernandez is Catholic and says her faith is what motivated her to become a doctor.

“Guided by my faith, I am driven to practice as a physician, knowing that God’s presence can be felt through compassionate actions,” she says. “True healing comes not only from knowledge, but from a heart dedicated to caring that reflects the higher purpose of love and service. I feel extremely blessed and grateful to God for the opportunity to pursue my passion at FIU.”

Want to learn more about pathways to medical school with FIU Honors? Check out these programs.

The Honors College and FIU Wertheim Medicine operate a program in which Honors students in their second year at FIU are considered for guaranteed admission to the university’s medical school and another in which Honors students are guaranteed an interview with the medical school.

This fall, they will launch a similar early warning program for those interested in pursuing a physician assistant degree at FIU.

For more information about the new seven-year fast-track program, visit the website.