Nicole is originally from Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to Texas with her family during childhood. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin prior to pursuing her medical degree at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Passionate about mentorship, she guided underrepresented students toward careers in medicine. As president of the Family Medicine Student Association, she worked to promote holistic care and community health. Her research on vaccine hesitancy in Black and Hispanic communities led to numerous presentations and a first-author publication in the American Journal of Public Health. She also contributed to relationship psychology research, exploring how couples navigate their experiences.
Get to Know Nicole
- Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica and Keller, TX
- Professional Interests: Child and adolescent psychiatry and general psychiatry
- Future Plans: Work with underserved populations (want to work towards improving access to mental healthcare in marginalized communities), contribute to mental health advocacy in Jamaica (interested in working on public education campaigns, specifically geared towards the school-aged population), possibly pursue role in academic medicine due to love for teaching and plan to continue to mentor students interested in medicine and/or psychiatry
- Awards/Grants: Harris County Medical Alliance Scholarship Recipient
- Memberships: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association and Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians
- Hobbies: Running (often with visually impaired athletes), thrifting/sustainability and bullet journaling
Education
- MD, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, 2025
- BS, University of Texas at Austin, 2020
Publications
- Small NN, Busogi BU, Nguyen N, Chen M, Carrier CC, Buzcu-Guven B, McNeill LH. COVID-19 Knowledge, Beliefs, and Intention to Get Vaccinated: A Brief Educational Intervention Among Black and Hispanic Populations. American Journal of Public Health. January 2024; 114(S1):S82-S86. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 38207268. Publication Status: Published.