DCD 2017 Alumni Award recipient Monique Tello ’86, a doctor and writer, visited campus on November 30 to speak at an all-school morning assembly.
Dr. Tello has combined an accomplished medical career as a primary care physician with a lifelong passion for writing. Dr. Tello now writes for the Harvard Health publications blog, in addition to working as a primary care provider at Women’s Health Associates, a practice of women for women at Mass General, and serving as a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School.
She talked to students about her experience at DCD, how enriched the program was compared with the public elementary school she had been attending in Dedham. She credited the many opportunities she had at DCD with broadening her perspective later on in life to be able to take on challenges of being a mother, doctor, writer, and animal advocate.
Noting that although she was not a very good student in science and math at DCD yet was still eventually able to go to medical school and become a doctor, she encouraged students to be open to many possibilities in their ultimate choice of career.
Her talk prompted a lively question and answer session that ran the gamut from the youngest asking “What kind of cat do you have?” to a middle school student asking “What made you decide to become a doctor?”
Each year, DCD asks for nominations from the community for its annual Alumni Award, which is presented at the Alumni Association reception the evening before the Fair to a Dedham Country Day School alumnus/a whose significant accomplishments or extraordinary service to others in his or her chosen field, as a professional or volunteer, exemplify the school’s mission. To nominate next year’s winner, click here.