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Mariela Hernandez Honors Portfolio
University of Washington
Spring Quarter '25
Learning about evolution and medicine
This class was incredible! Dr. Carl Bergstrom taught a course about evolution and medicine. The course was constructed with daily writing assignments that were reflective assessments of biological questions and citing reading concepts. I was also assigned two research projects of my topic of choice.
One of the research projects was synthesizing a graphic abstract that illustrates the information and summarizes the study. The target audience was the general public, so this assignment was a challenge to explain biological studies to people without a background in biological sciences. This specific assignment helped me practice intentional learning and developing my communication skills.
For my second research assignment I wrote an essay explaining a pathology of my choice at the four levels: Proximate, Developmental, Evolutionary, Phylogenetic. I selected breast cancer and began researching how breast cancer is triggered (proximate) and how it develops in terms of biological mechanisms (developmental). I then began researching the evolutionary and phylogenetic mapping that exists regarding genes that are correlated with breast cancer. These processes of researching and learning to explain pathology on 4 scales supported my interdisciplinarity and intentional learning approaches to learning.
Graphic Abstract Design
Levels of Explanation Report
Learning about the rhetoric of health and medicine
This quarter, I got to practice my analytical skills and also my videography and editing skills. It had been a while since I made a YouTube video for a class, so I was excited to begin the creative process! This course was Honors 393 about how rhetoric, language in campaigns effect the health practices and well-being. In this activity, I selected a health campaign and dissected its rhetorical strategies and efficacy at persuading the audience. I did my research on The Real Cost, a campaign organization that targeted youth and young adults in anti-smoking ads. My artifacts for this analysis was several short ads created by The Real Cost campaign. I reviewed the rhetorical tools they used such as pathos and relatability, as well as whether the intended message was received by the target audience. I learned to edit videos, record with a script, create engaging transitions between points of the video, and oral presentation skills. Through this project I make personal growth, and practiced interdisciplinarity.
Learning about oral health sciences
During the OHS 201 course, I learned about oral health sciences and details that I always wondered about. For instance, the anatomy of the mouth and teeth, and location of the facial nerves. It was amazing to understand the intricate anatomical patterns of each tooth and how we can identify each tooth due to its unique anatomical structures. Dental specialists and faculty at the UW School of Dentistry presented each week about their speciality. Learning from accomplished dental professionals was an honor and very insightful.
Thanks to this course I understand the sectors of dentistry and the importance of the communication between the general dentist and dental specialists. I learned about diseases, effects of cavities, and reading x-rays for specific diagnoses. At points in the class, we learned from interdisciplinary scopes because we would not only focus on teeth, but also discuss public health, society, and access to dental care. The endodontic specialist taught us how she diagnoses and completes endodontic treatments such as root-end surgeries.
This course consisted of weekly reflection essays where we wrote about what we learned about the speciality of the week and how it gave us insight about our personal interests. Through this experience, I practiced personal growth, and interdisciplinarity.
Organizing the Oral Cancer Awareness Event for 2025
The planning for an event like OCA requires months and months of planning ahead of the day (04/14/25). We begin preparing materials in December and send in official requests to for use Red Square in early January. We have to recruit volunteer dental providers to screen hundreds of participants for oral cancer. We also recruit pre-dental volunteers to help set up the event in the early morning (balloons, tables, podcast area, screening area, waiting area, check in area, prize table, etc). In total we had 50 volunteers and were able to screen over 350 participants!
The day of the event, I helped out with a little of everything. I tried podcasting for the first time and it was a lot of fun! Dr. Kim interviewed some of the participants and we got to hear about their experience at our event. At the end of the event Dr. Kim and the closing volunteer crew went to get Shake Shack together! I always enjoy this event. The entire process shows public service and experiential learning.
Volunteering at the Seattle King County Clinic
This quarter, I had the availability to practice public service on Sunday 4/27 at the annual Seattle King County Clinic. Each year, I am extremely satisfied by the impact that the translating team is able to make by helping bridge the communication between providers and patients. Lacking the understanding about your care, and health status is a problem that is hard to understand for many people. However, putting myself in activities like these reminds me of my roots and the importance of representation in healthcare providers.
Patients often feel more represented when providers can clearly understand their concerns and explain next steps in their native language. Volunteers are prepared for the event in a auditorium about an hour before the event begins. The leaders of the translation team assigns us to different departments such as dental, optic, or medical. Then we are offered breakfast before heading out to begin our 6 hours shift. I met many spanish-speaking patients that had commuted hours and endured cold temperatures while waiting in line solely to access dental care. I was also able to connect a patient to our social services team that offered local community clinics for establishing dental care. Unfortunately, the SKC clinic only happens once a year for 4 days, so although it is not a permanent care option, it does increase access to health care for our marginalized communities.
Organizing Mary's Place event with Floss Boss
This quarter, I helped organize the second event with Mary's Place, a non profit organization that provides help for women and children with the mission that no child sleeps outside. We brought high school volunteers interested in dentistry, and undergrad volunteers, and also partnered with UW School of Dentistry. Dental students in their 3rd and 4th year provided care under the supervision of their faculty member, Dr. Trieu. Without the teamwork and perseverance, the event would not have been possible. I am extremely grateful for our amazing volunteers! We were able to treat 29 children and provide over $14,000 of services at no cost for patients.
The process of organizing the partnership and the event was an example of advocacy. The practice of serving underserved community members is also an instance of public service. On the day of the event, I took all the xrays for the children. I learned to assess their jaw size and conclude whether xrays can be acquired or if their mouths are too small for our sensor. I also learned that kiddos love practice and patience. When they feel that they have disappointed a dental provider by not being able to hold still long enough for the xray picture, they feel less motivated to try again.
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