Spotlight: Terrence Habiyaremye

Student spotlight

Terrence Habiyaremye

MD Class of 2022

Terrence Habiyaremye knew he found a second home at Geisinger Commonwealth when he heard the school’s former Chief Diversity Officer, Ida Castro, talk about the Regional Education Academy for Careers in Health – Higher Education Initiative (REACH-HEI) program. “It was before the admissions interviews even started,” he said. “Hearing her describe how Geisinger Commonwealth makes such a difference in children’s lives struck a chord with me, given my background.” Terrence was born in Columbus, Ohio, and entered foster care with his younger sister when he was about 4 years old. “In second grade, I went to at least three different schools,” he said. Then, in what he considers a life-changing moment, he and his sister were adopted by the Habiyaremye family from Harrisburg, Pa. – Rwandan refugees who felt the need to “pay forward” the second chance they’d been given. Terrence gained a stable home and three older siblings. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if I didn’t have my family,” he said. “That’s why REACH-HEI moved me so much — it gives hope to children.” Now in his fourth year at Geisinger Commonwealth, Terrence finds that the care for community and the person-centered focus he first intuited at his admissions interview are a central theme of his education. “I went to a liberal arts college where we talked about how political, socio-economic and even religious backgrounds impact us. Our experiences shape our outcomes. As a scribe at various Harrisburg hospitals during my gap year, that lesson became even more clear. I learned to appreciate that you have to look at where people start. So now, I make it part of every interaction with my standardized patients to ask them when they last saw a primary care provider. Are you on top of your medications? Do you understand why the instructions you are being given are important?” Ultimately, Terrence hopes to return to Harrisburg as an emergency medicine physician. “Rural or urban — it doesn’t matter,” he said. “I think I can adapt anywhere there are people in need.”