Kristen Alexandra Navarette, daughter of Robert and Kellie Kaschak of Grafton, graduated from medical school at Albany Medical College in Albany on Thursday, May 24, 2012.
Kristen attended Tamarac High School in Brunswick, graduating in 2002 with a Regents Diploma with Honors. She was accepted into the Siena College/ Albany Medical College Program in Science, Humanities and Medicine directly out of high school.
While at Siena College, Kristen pursued her education as well as her commitment to service. In the summer of 2005, Kristen traveled to Khao Lak, Thailand, on a service mission where she helped to rebuild a village destroyed by the Tsunami in December 2004. Kristen completed her undergraduate degree at Siena College in May 2006 where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology with a minor in Franciscan Service and Advocacy, graduating Magna Cum Laude. The week following graduation from Siena College, she married her high school sweetheart, Raymond A. Navarette of Brunswick, also a Siena graduate, an RPI graduate and currently employed as a Software Engineer for Pitney Bowes.
While attending Albany Medical College, Kristen continued to honor her commitment to service acting as an advocate for literacy. In 2010, Kristen took a leave from her education to give birth to a daughter, Alexandra Leigh Navarette. In 2011, she resumed her studies and traveled to Uganda, Africa on a health literacy project were she helped to design a pilot program to improve the health literacy of its residents when receiving prescription medications. She returned to this country to continue her work at a Primary Care Clinic in Arbor Hill, providing care to an underserved population in that community.
Kristen is a member of the American Medical Assn. and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She will continue her residency training in Pediatric Medicine at Albany Medical Center. Her future ambitions include working as a Pediatrician with the underserved and participating in future medical mission trips to countries such as Africa and Thailand, where she previously took part in service projects.