Medical Student
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
My name is Danielle R. Peterson, MS3, and I am a proud Wildcat at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
I was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, and graduated from Sylvania Southview High School in 2017. I moved to Lexington in the fall of 2017 and began my professional career at UK. I received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Chemistry in the spring of 2021 graduating magna cum laude. Following my graduation, I accepted my first clinical job as a scribe at the Lexington Clinic. I worked in the Otolaryngology clinic as a medical scribe working alongside Dr. Michael Cecil, MD FACS. My year of medical scribing introduced me to the world of clinical medicine and ENT. Dr. Cecil helped to instill a tenacious work ethic with maximum efficiency and empathy for our patients. I began medical school in the fall of 2022 and quickly gravitated to the ENT wing of the hospital. After successfully completing my first semester of medical school, I sought out mentorship within the ENT department. I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Joseph Valentino, MD FACS, at the Markey Cancer Center. Since February 2022, Dr. Valentino and I have been working on projects focusing on smoking behaviors. Dr. Valentino and I shared a profound interest in the addictive nature of tobacco and its catastrophic effect on head and neck anatomy and physiology. This will be my first professional conference. I look forward to presenting our team's project at the poster presentation, networking, and enjoying the beach!