Antionette Simmons

Antionette Simons is a current 2nd year medical student at the Charles R Drew / UCLA Medical Educational program . She was born in San Diego, California. Growing up in an underserved community and seeing the impact that it had on her family and friends, she was inspired to become a change agent. In high school, she developed a strong interest in science and decided that she wanted to pursue medicine after experiencing the loss of her grandmother. While at San Diego State University as a pre-med Biology major, she joined two organizations, the American Medical Student Organization and Flying Samaritans. She also made it a priority to stay involved in her community by serving as a track coach for the Florence Griffith Joyner Youth Foundation and a cheer coach for Valencia Park Hornets: teams she had been apart of her entire childhood. After graduating from San Diego State, Antionette did a premedical post-baccalaureate program and continued to work within her community. In addition to being a coach, she began working at a scientific institution in her neighborhood. This program allowed students to feel like real scientists and be hands-on. After completing her post-baccalaureate program, she served as an AmeriCorps mentor. She also started a partnership with a community organization that taught students emotional literacy. Antionette was accepted into a master’s program at Charles R. Drew University. During this program, I was granted the opportunity to learn more about health disparities and ways that we could bridge the gaps as inspiring physicians. Antionette aims to continue to increase her knowledge and skill set in medical school so she can continue to do meaningful work in underserved communities.