Medical student
Georgetown University School of Medicine
My name is Peter Abdow, and I am a fourth year medical student at Georgetown University and future pediatrician! I have always enjoyed working with children and giving back to those in need through work experiences as a summer camp director and my long-standing relationship volunteering with the Memory Project. I have continued pursuing my passion for pediatrics in medical school through academic electives during which I have fostered an interest in health sciences among third grade students and engaged with pediatric inpatients through arts and crafts. Outside of the classroom, as co-president of the Pediatric Interest Group, I hosted several events to explore careers in pediatrics. I also co-founded the Georgetown chapter of Operation Smile to increase awareness and fundraise for pediatric cleft lip and palate surgeries around the world. Within pediatrics, my interest lies in gender-affirming care. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, growing up, I would have benefitted from having a pediatrician knowledgeable in the specific needs of LGBTQ+ patients. As co-president of the Hoya MedAlliance, Georgetown's student-led LGBTQ+ advocacy group, I sponsored patient panels and workshops to teach my classmates about the challenges that transgender patients experience while navigating the healthcare system and how to promote more equitable care. I also designed a quality improvement research project to investigate how our school’s affiliated hospital could adopt guidelines proposed by the Human Rights Campaign's Healthcare Equality Index, which I have presented at national and international conferences. I hope to build upon these experiences through a residency program that can support my interest in gender-affirming pediatrics!