PGY4

Born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts, Ben developed a great love of Boston sports and was often seen playing anything with a ball. He attended Colgate University where he discovered a love of the great outdoors, leading many backpacking and canoeing trips in the Adirondacks, and majored in Religious Studies. Before starting medical school, Ben bounced around a bit, leading backpacking trips for high schoolers, volunteering for a great non-profit Mil Milagros in Guatemala, having a brief stint as a barista, and skiing a lot. He attended UMass Chan Medical School and has since fallen in love with Worcester, The Heart of the Commonwealth. During med school, Ben helped co-lead the Sidekicks and Wilderness Medicine electives, mentored pre-clinical med students and URiM pre-med student, and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the UMass Chan basketball team. He went into medical school knowing he wanted to work with kids, and developed a love of adults, particularly in hospice and palliative medicine. Thus, med/peds was the perfect choice for him! Ben doesn’t know exactly where his career will take him, but loves primary care, palliative medicine, being in the hospital, education, and has a dream of being a doctor at a summer camp. While not working, Ben can be found hiking, skiing, gardening, watching Boston sports, playing pick-up basketball, and enjoying any board or card game!

Matt grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island. He attended Northeastern University for his undergraduate education, where he majored in Biochemistry and obtained a minor in music recording. After college, Matt spent two years conducting neonatology research at Women & Infants Hospital, investigating the molecular mechanisms of invasive fungal infections in newborns. While passionate about research, Matt ultimately decided he wanted to make a more direct impact on patient care, which led him to pursue medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. After doing his core rotations in Medicine and Pediatrics, Matt couldn’t imagine giving up either patient population. He was particularly drawn to Med-Peds for its wide breadth of training, emphasis on academics, and overall versatility as a specialty. His prior experiences leave him interested in infectious disease and critical care, however he is excited to see how residency at UMass shapes his ultimate career goals. As time permits, Matt loves playing music (especially guitar), traveling, and exploring the food and drink scene all over the New England area.

Nicole grew up in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, before moving to Boston to attend Northeastern University. Initially undecided about a major, she eventually pursued a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience to combine two of her interests—psychology and biology—a theme that has frequently come up in her life! While at Northeastern, she found an interest in global health after spending time in both Spain and South Africa. She also continued to dance in college through one of Northeastern’s hip hop teams and the Filipino student club. After graduating, she worked as a clinical research coordinator in Brigham and Women’s Endocrinology Department, before starting medical school at Penn State. While at Penn State, she was involved in the Global Health Scholars Program where she traveled to rural Australia to focus on indigenous health until interrupted by COVID. It was at Penn State where Nicole was first inspired by the incredible Med-Peds residents and attendings and the seemingly infinite career paths afforded to Med-Peds physicians. She is unsure (but excited!) where this residency will take her, and has gone back and forth on various subspecialties or some combination of hospitalist and clinic work. In her free time, Nicole enjoys dancing, cooking, eating, attempting latte art, traveling (whenever possible), anything that involves the show “Friends,” facetiming her niece and nephew, and spending as much time with her fiancé, friends, and family as possible!

Brielle grew up on Cape Cod, in the towns of Harwich and Brewster. She attended Northeastern University in Boston, MA and graduated with a major in Behavioral Neuroscience and minor in Communication Studies. While at NU she completed a co-op as a photojournalist in Valparaíso, Chile and studied abroad in Australia. After graduating, Brielle worked at Boston Children’s Hospital as a research assistant in the Department of Cardiac Surgery. Brielle completed her medical school training at the UMass Chan Medical School, where she was the co-president of the Peer Mentoring Program. As a ballet teacher in high school, Brielle realized her passion for working with children and entered medical school with a focus on pediatric care. Surprisingly, her 3^rd year clinical rotation in adult ambulatory medicine demonstrated she felt just as much joy while working with adult patients! Around this time, she heard about the field of med-peds and knew right away that it would be the perfect fit. Spending a month at the med-peds clinic was the highlight of her medical school experience. Brielle is passionate about preventative medicine, primary care, and the impact of presence in medical care. Outside of medicine, Brielle enjoys studying traditional Hawaiian hula, traveling, anything food related, game nights with friends, and spending time with her fiancé Ryan and puppy Kai.