Melissa Lectura, MD

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and have spent most of my life there. My summers as a child were often spent in the Philippines, my parent's native country, where I was exposed to an underserved population at an early age. I went on to Johns Hopkins to study biomaterials engineering, which allowed me to pursue my interests in biology, without all of the memorization! While there, I realized that I wanted to be more directly involved in patient care and work with communities that so indelibly shaped my childhood. I returned to NY and worked for a year in clinical research before starting medical school at Albert Einstein. At Einstein, I was involved in a student-run free clinic called ECHO Clinic and also got the opportunity to do global health work in Kisoro, Uganda. Fortunately, I have been able to visit my mom in Phoenix over the past few years and escape the colder NY weather. I'm looking forward to enjoying the warmer weather and beautiful outdoors at U of Arizona, but also to working with the amazing and diverse group of faculty and residents here. In my free time, I enjoy eating, traveling, and jogging, all of which I hope to continue to enjoy in residency.