When Andrés Maldonado scrolled through medical school websites, something about UC Davis caught his eye.

He noticed a page titled “Matriculant Demographics.” About a third, 34%, were Latino. Nearly a quarter, 72%, came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. And 43% were the first generation in their family to graduate from college.

Maldonado, who identified with all three categories, applied for admission, got in and quickly immersed himself in meaningful efforts to promote diversity and provide care for people in underserved communities.

He recently received the 2023 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarship, an impressive national award for outstanding students who show leadership to eliminate inequities in medical education and health care, and who address the educational, societal and health care needs of underrepresented individuals.

Maldonado is one of five recipients from across the country. Some of his many achievements during his first three years of medical school include co-directing the Clínica Tepati student-run clinic and co-founding its mentorship program, co-founding the school’s Club de Español Médico, co-leading the school’s Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) chapter, and receiving the 2022 LMSA National Scholarship.

Through the Nickens award, Maldonado also draws more national attention to how the UC Davis School of Medicine — ranked one of the most diverse in the country — recruits and supports students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Maldonado, the middle of five children, was born to hard-working Mexican American parents. His father, an iron worker, and his mother, a fast-food employee, settled in the East Bay, and he received a full scholarship to a Catholic high school while spending weekends and vacations helping his father with work.

His high school years were uneasy, emotionally, because he was straddling three separate worlds. One world, hidden from view, was based on his sexual orientation. Maldonado was gay but felt he couldn’t tell anyone at the time. He was receiving a free Catholic education and was the son of socially conservative, old-school Mexican parents.

Another world was filled with Advanced Placement classes and high academic standards, anchored by a long-held dream of becoming a doctor.

The other world was grounded in day-to-day survival where Maldonado’s father took on grueling jobs and his mother worked in fast food until her struggles with epilepsy rendered her disabled.

Still, Maldonado excelled through school and was accepted to Columbia in New York City, with a full scholarship and the majors he wanted to pursue: Hispanic studies and neuroscience, a field inspired by his mother’s neurological disorder.

As he settled into Columbia, Maldonado felt isolated when he learned a large share of Latino students came from economic circumstances quite opposite to his own. It wasn’t until his senior year that he finally encountered another from a similar upbringing.

After graduating with honors, Maldonado spent a year researching migration and nutrition epidemiology at Columbia. He moved home during the pandemic and was eventually accepted to the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Though Maldonado now lives in Sacramento, he often drives home to take his parents to doctors’ appointments and visit his siblings.