Kinaya Hardie
Fall 2024 Dean’s Excellence Merit Scholarship Recipient
Special Master’s Program in Physiology & Biophysics
I am most motivated by a desire to promote joy and harmony in my immediate community and the world around me.
About Kinaya
Kinaya is from Fort Washington, Maryland. Before coming to Georgetown Biomedical Graduate Education, she earned a B.S. in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, and attended the “Science in the Evening” nondegree postbaccalaureate program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is studying with the Special Master’s Program (SMP) Georgetown Downtown campus, which provides small class sizes and real-world clinical experience for pre-medical students.
How do you hope your graduate studies will build on what you learned as an undergraduate?
As an aspiring physician, I hope my graduate studies at Georgetown will help me connect biomedical science to clinical applications. While studying for my B.S. in Neuroscience I was most fascinated by neural anatomy and biochemistry. Now that I have spent years after my graduation in 2017 working in public health and clinical research, my professional experience has inspired me to link scientific research to the care of people. At Georgetown, I am now pursuing an M.S. in Physiology & Biophysics, which will allow me to supplement my understanding of the nervous system with a new expertise in the whole system of the human body.
Why did you choose the Georgetown SMP for your graduate studies?
I chose my program at Georgetown BGE because it is designed for students like myself who wish to become stronger candidates for medical school. I decided to pursue a career in medicine several years after graduating and working in healthcare. In the process of preparing an application, I had to contend with an undergraduate record that represented the challenges I had faced many years prior, not my current drive and maturity. I knew I could achieve more, and this program provides the perfect opportunity for me to prove that, through taking first-year courses at a rigorous medical school.
What motivates you?
I am most motivated by a desire to promote joy and harmony in my immediate community and the world around me. I also like to know and understand how things work so that I can make wise choices and empower those around me to do the same. I think about my future career as a physician as an exciting blend of these two aspects of how I am personally fulfilled. I will be able to partner with people to help them achieve their personal health goals and reconnect them to the best version of themselves.
What advice would you give to future BGE students?
Make sure you have the support system you need in place to help you through your program. You will need to lean heavily on your loved ones! These programs are not impossible, but they require you to be incredibly focused, hardworking, and organized. Whatever you can do to set yourself up for success will help you manage the challenge well.