{"id":4050,"date":"2026-05-13T19:33:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/commencement\/?p=4050"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:33:37","slug":"darlene-polanco-molina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/commencement\/2026\/05\/13\/darlene-polanco-molina\/","title":{"rendered":"Darlene Polanco Molina"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Darlene<\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\n

Biology<\/a> major Darlene Polanco Molina has her heart set on becoming a physician \u201cwith a focus on improving access to care for underserved communities.\u201d She hopes her next step \u2014 studying public health and the social determinants of health through Clark\u2019s 4+1 Accelerated Master\u2019s Degree program in Community Development and Planning<\/a> \u2014 brings her closer to that goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polanco Molina has built a lengthy resume so far. She\u2019s the lead certified phlebotomist at the Family Health Center of Worcester’s HIV Prevention Testing Center and coordinates the Community Hands-Only CPR <\/strong>trainings with UMass Chan Medical School. And through the school\u2019s PRISM Program, she will work with Dr. Margaret Parker on neonatology research examining the social determinants of health affecting Black and Latina women who have been historically underserved in the medical system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Clark, Polanco Molina helped co-found Latines in STEM<\/a>, now called ASCEND in STEM; and served two years as president of the Pre-Health Society and Alpha Epsilon Delta. \u201cTogether,\u201d she says, \u201cthese experiences have shaped how I understand community.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Student spotlights<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n \"A\n <\/div>\n \n \n\n

Biology, B.S.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Study of life at all levels: molecular, cellular, individual, ecological, and systemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program details<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biology major Darlene Polanco Molina has her heart set on becoming a physician \u201cwith a focus on improving access to care for underserved communities.\u201d She hopes her next step \u2014 studying public health and the social determinants of health through Clark\u2019s 4+1 Accelerated Master\u2019s Degree program in Community Development and Planning \u2014 brings her closer to that goal.  Polanco Molina […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDarlene Polanco Molina | Commencement | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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