For Will McGonigle, Medicine Begins With People
As commencement approaches, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine student reflects on clinical training, global health, genomics and a people‑first approach to care.
When Will McGonigle talks about why he chose medicine, he doesn’t start with a dramatic moment or a lifelong certainty. He starts with people.
A student in the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Class of 2026, McGonigle was drawn to medicine in a way that felt organic rather than inherited. While several extended family members worked in health care, he was the first in his immediate family to pursue the profession. His interest sharpened in high school while working at a local hospital and, later, an urgent care.
Watching clinicians interact with patients, often during some of the hardest moments of their lives, left a lasting impression.
“I’m just interested in people,” he said. “You get to learn their story and you get to impact their story in a helpful way.”
Drawn to Medicine Through People, Not Prestige
That focus carried him to the University of Georgia. McGonigle became an EMT and studied environmental health, a discipline that examines how physical and social environments shape population-level health outcomes.
During college, he volunteered during the COVID-19 pandemic, screening patients and supporting testing sites, and traveled to Puerto Rico to conduct research on mosquito-borne tropical diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya.
Those experiences helped him see medicine as more than individual symptoms. It involves culture, geography and access.
“Thinking about all the different aspects of someone’s environment,” he said, “really factors into someone’s health and expected outcomes.”
Training in Miami’s Diverse Clinical Landscape
That perspective ultimately guided him to the Miller School of Medicine. For McGonigle, Miami’s international culture offered exactly the kind of training ground he was seeking.
“There are people from all over the place,” he said. “That variety matters.”
Once on campus, McGonigle took full advantage of the school’s early clinical exposure and flexible curriculum. Alongside his M.D., he pursued a master’s degree in genomic medicine, deepening his interest in how emerging science can inform personalized care.
Finding Purpose in Teaching and Mentorship
He also discovered a strong passion for medical education. He found particular joy in helping translate complex scientific concepts, especially in genomics, into practical, accessible knowledge for learners at different stages. From mentoring high school students interested in health careers to guiding first-year medical students, he embraced opportunities to teach and to shape broader educational initiatives.
These experiences helped clarify his future path and also inspired him to envision a future in which teaching remains an integral part of his clinical career. Recently, McGonigle matched in internal medicine at Tufts Medical Center and has plans to pursue a gastroenterology fellowship.
As the Miller School’s Class of 2026 Commencement Ceremony approaches on May 9, and McGonigle imagines the kind of doctor he hopes to be, he returns to the heart of the profession: people. Training in Miami, he said, has reinforced the importance of caring for patients whose backgrounds may differ from his own.
“I want to be a doctor for all patients,” he said.
For McGonigle, it feels like both a beginning and a promise.
Tags: commencement, commencement 2026, Department of Medical Education, genomics, internal medicine, medical education