On the field of UMD’s Commencement ceremony on a rainy May day, Saili Khorjekar had one more job to do: Represent the School of Public Health as a UMD Senior Marshall, an honor given to only 86 graduates this year. It’s a responsibility – among many she holds – that Khorjekar doesn’t take lightly.
Raised in a South Asian household that emphasized the importance of community and service, the public health science major and law and society minor always knew she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. During her freshman year as a Global Public Health (GPH) College Park Scholar, Khorjekar decided public health was for her, feeling it offered a comprehensive way to understand and improve healthcare for diverse communities.
“When I learned how holistic public health was, I realized it was something I wanted to learn more about and understand academically," said Khorjekar. “I was surrounded by professors, mentors and peers who were all deeply passionate about improving community health.”
Khorjekar immersed herself in public health advocacy and student leadership positions across campus. A Columbia, Maryland, native, she joined the UMD chapter of the Remote Area Medical (RAM) Volunteer Corps, which provides free health care clinics in Maryland. She later became RAM vice president and helped organize an initiative to bring these clinics to Prince George's County.
Through leadership roles as executive vice president of UMD’s Student Government Association (SGA) and president of Phi Alpha Epsilon, a public health honor society, Khorjekar developed a strong background in advocacy for students across campus. At SGA, she helped create initiatives centered around student mental health and wellbeing.
“Advocacy matters to me because there will always be people whose voices go unheard, so I am passionate about speaking up for individuals who may not have the platform or chance to advocate for themselves. The strongest advocates are often the ones who truly understand the issue and care enough to take a stance,” she said. “Taking on leadership roles in student organizations and the SGA came from wanting to create a larger impact on my campus community. “
Khorjekar also held several positions assisting in various clinics across Maryland working directly with patients from various backgrounds, positions she said further sparked her passion for public health advocacy. As a sophomore, Khorjekar studied in the United Kingdom, learning about different models of healthcare delivery, and realized that patient advocacy could extend beyond clinical medicine. Later, as a health policy intern with the Melanoma Research Foundation, she also participated in advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill supporting ocular melanoma research funding and policies aimed at improving patient care for people with rare subtypes of melanoma.
So many patients are not able to access the care that they need. Public health advocacy is the solution.
Last summer, Khorjekar worked as a research fellow in the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute & McKnight Vision Research Center at the University of Miami, where she will be returning as a full-time research associate during a gap year before attending medical school. She plans to pursue a career in ophthalmology, driven by an interest in how vision shapes daily life and a passion for addressing preventable vision loss and improving access to eye health, while continuing to advocate for healthcare accessibility.
“Saili was recognized by the Maryland Medallion Society for being one of the top 20 seniors in the graduating class. This is so well-deserved as Saili is one in a million,” said SPH Clinical Professor Elisabeth Fost Maring, director of the GPH scholars program. “She is committed to mentoring students who aspire to be public health professionals. She has won so many awards, and she has also won our hearts. She is a leader who will change the world.”
— by Sumaya Abdel-Motagaly