Hello future doctors! My name is Nelly-Ange Kontchou, and I am the Vice President of External Affairs for SNMA. I am delighted that you are interested in a career in medicine. I graduated from Duke University in May 2013, and I am currently in my first year at Harvard Medical School. In college, I majored in Combined Spanish & Italian Studies, which was the best decision for me. Then and now, I strive to combine my interests in language, neuroscience and global engagement through my academics, research and extracurricular activities.

I am originally from Cameroon, but I went to middle and high school in Houston, Texas. Foreign language acquisition has played a central role in my life, as I grew up bilingual (French and English) and picked up Spanish and Italian along the way. I am currently taking Medical Spanish and Medical Portuguese and plan to continue on with international travel during medical school, as I believe that cultural humility is of the utmost importance not just in medicine, but in life in general.

My interests outside of the classroom are shadowing in neurosurgery, conducting HIV testing and counseling in East Boston, mentoring underprivileged high school students through Harvard’s Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program, exploring how to incorporate business strategies and models to improve the quality of health care delivery, traveling, long-distance running and more! Feel free to contact me at nelly-ange_kontchou@hms.harvard.edu if you have any questions at all. Best of luck on your medical journey!