Who, What, Why: Medical student Bayan Galal aims to tackle global health challenges

The first-year Penn Medicine student and graduate associate at Perry World House draws her inspiration from her family’s lived experience.

A graduate of Yale University and the University of Cambridge on a Marshall Scholarship, Bayan Galal says her master’s in population health sciences gave her the big-picture view to complement her family’s lived experience.

Galal came to Penn in part because of the ability to concentrate in areas such as global health. Students who do the global health certificate are required to pursue international experiences in research and in clinical rotation. “I loved that these opportunities would be embedded within my time in medical school, and that really let me hold on to my commitment to both fields at once,” she says.

Galal is also a graduate associate at Penn’s Perry World House, where she is the only medical student in her cohort. Associates participate in a monthly policy seminar, receive mentoring from visiting fellows, and write a policy brief aimed at publication. “I have so much that I can learn from classmates who are students at other Penn graduate schools, and I cherish the multi-disciplinary nature of the environment,” she says.