Alyssa Nielsen

Hi all! My name is Alyssa (she/her) and I hail from northwest Florida. I studied neuroscience and dance at Tulane University where I was a resident advisor, dance company member, and proud bagel shop employee. I found myself fascinated by the interaction of neuroscience, behavior, and community; medicine – and particularly psychiatry – was the field that seemed best poised to investigate this intersection. I transferred to the University of Florida as part of a 7-year combined BS-MD program where I worked at a local coffee shop, continued neuroscience research, and discovered a passion for working with underserved and otherwise vulnerable populations. In medical school, I worked with the Equal Access Clinic Network (EACN), a network of student-run free clinics, as an officer and eventual director of a weekly primary care site with an emphasis on gender-affirming medical therapy. Working with LGBTQ+ folk in clinic and at the coffee shop (I was fortunate to remain employed there during the first two years of medical school) and having a transgender sibling highlighted the mental health disparities experienced by this and other minoritized groups. This led me to start a bi-monthly psychiatry clinic with EACN. My other medical school ventures included being elected to serve as Curriculum Debriefing Chair, leading the UF COM HealthQueer Alliance, and assisting with various research projects on health equity and medical education. My non-medical hobbies include weightlifting, biking, baking, and cuddling up to my tabby cat, Bear. I am excited to pursue my interests in community psychiatry and medical education and cannot imagine a more thrilling place to do so than Yale!