Alyssa Watkis, a rising sophomore at Abington Senior High School, was named a Delegate to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in December.

An event for Delegates was held from June 26 – June 28, just outside Boston on the University of Massachusetts’ Lowell campus.

Watkis, freshly returned from the trip, said the days were long and informative via a host of top-level speakers from the medical world.

“It was super fun and tiring. The second and third days ran from 10:00am to 9:30pm. I’m currently deciding between a neurosurgeon and an obstetrician, and Nicole Hall, an obstetrician, really pushed me in that direction,” she said, noting that a highlight of the experience was listening to a lecture given by Dr. Nancy Brown, dean of Yale Medical School.

“She was a woman in STEM in the ’80s and ’90s, so it was really nice to hear how she overcame those challenges,” Watkis said.

Watkis and Delegates were also invited to observe live surgeries.

“That was super cool,” Watkis said. “Some of the students got sick while they were observing, but I felt fine.”

Her summer plans moving forward include continuing her volunteership at the Abington Free Library.

“I’ve been helping them with a project to purge their outdated books. Now we’re moving the books down the rows to make room for newer books,” she said.

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Photos: Rebecca Watkis