Student spotlight: Meet Larisa Che

Education is one of the four pillars of UNMC’s mission, and our students are the lifeblood of that aspect of campus life.

In UNMC Today’s Student Spotlight, we get to know some of these students, who will become tomorrow’s health care professionals. Today we meet:

• Name: Larisa Che

• Hometown: Omaha
• Program/Year: Second-year medical student

List three songs on your playlist:

• “You’re Not Alone,” by Meredith Andrews
• “You are Good,” by Kari Jobe
• “Magnificent,” by Darlene Zschech

When did you first fall in love with medicine?
Until my junior year in college, I had a steady and sometimes complicated relationship with dentistry. Many factors led to our eventual breakup, but the turning point came in the summer of 2012, when my grandma was admitted to the hospital in Cameroon, the last of so many visits she had paid until then.

Let’s just say I became very, very aware during her stay in the hospital of just how much need there is for more medical personnel in underserved populations. I could see that the situation in Cameroon was just a peek into a much more global need. With my grandma’s eventual death that summer, I finally came to the conclusion that I will better serve humanity as a medical doctor.

So, I finally fell in love with medicine after the grief of my grandma’s passing. We have had a solid relationship since then, one that I pray results in positive change around the world.

My favorite study snack is:

Roasted almonds.

My favorite app is:
YouTube.

Three things people may not know about you.

• I was born and raised in Cameroon, Africa, and moved to the United States in 2008.
• I just learned how to ride a bike this past June.
• I got married in July and my last name changed from Akah to Che.