Sydney Aquilina

Sydney Aquilina is a fourth-year medical student at the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and a tribal member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. She is also a member of Alpha Pi Omega, the first and largest Native American Greek letter organization. She graduated with distinction from Duke University in 2021, where she earned her BA in Philosophy with a minor in chemistry and a global health thesis on Adverse childhood experiences and adult diet quality. From there she obtained an MS in Biomedical Sciences from the Duke University School of Medicine, and spent a year working as an EMT.

At Yale School of Medicine, Sydney has reinstated the Native American / Indigenous Medical Student Association and advocated for greater attention to Indigenous matters in medical education. She has also continued conducting research on Adverse Childhood Experiences in hopes of informing interventions to help uplift Native communities out of historical and generational trauma. Similarly, Sydney is engaged in pain research, such as chronic pain in Indigenous communities. Outside of medical school, Sydney has been working on securing a land recognition landmark in Leesburg, VA, and received a proclamation from the mayor and town council in recognition of her efforts and the land’s original inhabitants.

Following her passion in caring for vulnerable populations, Sydney is applying into Anesthesiology residency this year. Directly upon completion of residency, she is committed to serving Native communities in a tribal or Indian Health Service hospital. In doing so, she aspires to use culturally integrated and trauma-informed pedagogy to improve Native healthcare and address barriers to care within tribal communities.