The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is delighted to announce that four medical students have been selected as 2025 Gold Student Summer Fellows: Melanie Ambler of Stanford University School of Medicine, Ethan Boyle of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Alexis Haring of Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Kate Tolleson of NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
They will be leading projects from California to Pennsylvania to Kenya that advance humanistic healthcare by addressing a need identified by the patients or community members who will benefit from their work.
“Humanism in healthcare depends on thoughtful intention and enduring connections,” said Louisa Tvito, MSW, Vice President of Programs. “We are proud to support these medical students whose projects honor the humanity and stories of patients and address the needs of their communities. This summer, they will be working to build trust, kindness, and safety in care, helping to advance humanism in a lasting way.”
Gold Student Summer Fellowships provide opportunities for medical students to undertake a research or service project related to community health and to develop skills to become a humanistic, relationship-centered physician. Beginning in 2025, projects are connected to a longitudinal, evidence-based initiative.
The Gold Foundation is grateful to the Mellam Family Foundation for its support of this program.
The Gold Student Summer Fellows this year hail from four medical schools:
Melanie Ambler
Musical Rounds: Improvised Soundtracks to Patient Stories
Melanie Ambler, M5/5 | Stanford University School of Medicine
The mission of Musical Rounds is to cultivate human connection through live music and conversation for those with serious illness — enhancing dignity, promoting legacy building, and inspiring creative humanistic healthcare. Each session with Musical Rounds features a recorded interview between a patient and/or family and a musician, focusing on a meaningful memory or story. The musician then offers a live, personalized improvisation in response, performed right at the patient’s bedside. The conversation and music are edited into a layered recording that weaves the patient’s voice with the musical soundtrack and is shared with participants as a keepsake. Through a multi-site, mixed-methods study with primary outcomes of pre- and post-pain, stress, anxiety and comfort, the efficacy of this music medicine experience will be evaluated for broader implementation within hospital systems. The project also includes the development of a training guide for musician-facilitators and the launch of a podcast sharing patient stories from the bedside, helping to scale the impact and inspire more humanistic approaches to healthcare through the arts.
Action Against Healthcare Inequalities for Patients Experiencing Substance Abuse and Homelessness
Ethan Boyle, rising M2 | Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Ethan Boyle
Members of the Scranton Community Intervention Center (CIC), whether experiencing substance abuse, homelessness, or both, lack adequate access to comprehensive healthcare, healthcare education, and daily hygiene products. As a result, members are unable to obtain essential medications for chronic medical conditions and have lost trust in healthcare systems and their teams. Furthermore, this lack of healthcare access contributes to substance use relapse and negatively affects quality of life. In collaboration with the CIC, this project aims to address these social determinants of health and rebuild trust between this at-risk population and healthcare systems. Three goals of this project include: recording weekly vital sign checks for 100-150 patients facing substance abuse and homelessness; providing essential hygiene and harm reduction products; and connecting patients to free healthcare clinics within walking distance to provide necessary medications and manage complex conditions.
Trauma-Informed Conversations: Shaping MOUD Implementation Through Lived Experience and Shared Decision-Making
Alexis Haring, rising M2 | Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Alexis Haring
This research project aims to address the critical need for integrating trauma-informed care into conversations between clinicians and individuals with opioid use disorder to better understand their decision-making process regarding medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as methadone and buprenorphine. In collaboration with UMass Chan–Baystate, this project will use qualitative methods to understand how trauma-informed care can facilitate shared decision-making in the Emergency Department around the decision to start MOUD. The student will also be partnering with a community organization, Whose Corner Is It Anyway, to create an interview guide and perform one-on-one interviews. By integrating trauma-informed care principles into clinical conversations, this project aims to enhance trust, engagement, and the overall effectiveness of MOUD implementation in the treatment of opioid use disorder.
Referral Champions: Evaluating Traditional Birth Attendants Training and System Integration to Improve Birth Outcomes in Kenya
Kate Tolleson, rising M3 | NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Kate Tolleson
This project evaluates the effectiveness of the adapted School of POWHER (SOP) program for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in West Pokot, Kenya. High rates of adolescent pregnancy, maternal mortality, and barriers to prenatal care exacerbate maternal health challenges in this region. Saving Mothers, an NGO dedicated to preventing maternal deaths, has adapted its successful community-based educational program from Guatemala to address these issues in Kenya. The SOP is an evidence-based training program designed to empower TBAs with essential skills to recognize complications, facilitate referrals, and improve maternal health outcomes. This study aims to assess the real-world impact of SOP training by examining the lived experiences of TBAs and their patients. Data will be analyzed thematically to identify patterns in training applicability, referral system effectiveness, and ongoing economic barriers that prevent women from delivering in healthcare facilities with skilled clinicians. Ultimately, this research will identify culturally relevant and practical strategies to reduce maternal mortality in underserved regions.
Learn more about Gold Student Summer Fellowships. If you are interested in supporting or endowing a fellowship, please reach out to Major Gifts and Planned Giving Officer Pia Pyne Miller at pmiller@gold-foundation.org.
