Student Profile: Destiny Marquez

Temple University Hospital has always felt like home to Destiny Marquez. Her mother was a nurse at the hospital and she and her sister used to volunteer in the hospital’s pediatric clinic—the same clinic where she was treated by her pediatricians.

For the third-year student, the opportunity to also earn a master’s degree in urban bioethics was extremely important. “I feel it will enable me to make a difference in the place where I grew up,” says the LaSalle University 4.0 GPA biology graduate. “Knowing how to make our patients healthier in a way that fits their profile, their neighborhood and their education level really humanizes medicine.”

Serving as her class representative to the curriculum committee, Marquez acted as a liaison with professors regarding feedback on each block of the curriculum. “Our faculty and staff are so receptive to our needs,” she says.

As a member of the Temple Pediatric Interest Group, she also coordinates trips to the local Ronald McDonald House and a yearly volunteer trip to Camp Boggy Creek, a Florida camp for seriously ill children. During her second year, she was co-president of the Big Friends Organization, which tutors children at a nearby elementary school.

“I want to be a pediatrician,” she says, “who teaches children and their families how to prevent the children from getting sick.”