TCOM student builds bridges to better health, named Emerging Leader Institute Scholar
Rinka Ko knows what it’s like to be in a new country, all alone, having left her family
on the other side of the world. She left China many years ago to come to Texas and
is now pursuing her dream of becoming a physician at UNT Health Fort Worth’s Texas
College of Osteopathic Medicine. Through her own understanding of what refugees and
immigrants face and the barriers that can keep patients from accessing care in the
first place, Ko is committed to finding ways to help them overcome those challenges.
That commitment is at the heart of Ko’s growing interest in family medicine and refugee
health, and it is also the driving force behind a leadership project she is developing
after being selected as a prestigious 2026 American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation
Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute Scholar.
Ko was one of just 30 medical students and residents selected from across the country
for the competitive Emerging Leader Institute Scholarship. The program brings together
future family medicine leaders for leadership development, networking, mentorship
and the opportunity to develop a project addressing an issue important to the communities
they hope to serve.
Ko’s mentor, Dr. Narmeen Syed, is dual board-certified in emergency and family medicine
and will be working with her throughout the year on her project.
“Rinka has impressed me with her initiative, thoughtfulness and genuine interest in
making a difference,” Syed said. “She is approaching her project with both enthusiasm
and a willingness to learn, which is such an important combination in an emerging
leader. I also hope to mentor her beyond the individual project. Leadership involves
learning how to communicate an idea, build relationships, advocate effectively, respond
to setbacks and bring other people alongside you. Those are skills that develop through
experience, and I hope to be a sounding board and resource for her throughout that
process.”
For Ko, the opportunity feels like another step in a journey that has been steadily
pointing her toward family medicine.
Her decision to seriously pursue the specialty was shaped in part by her selection
last year as one of the first recipients of the Dr. William R. Boone Jr. and Kyoko
Nakamizo Scholars Program for students at TCOM. Her experience as a volunteer with
TCOM’s Refugee Health Initiative last year, which she is now president of, helped
solidify her interest in family medicine and reinforced her desire to build a career
centered on caring for patients and communities that can sometimes be overlooked.
“Everything feels very interconnected,” Ko said.
That connection became even clearer when she learned she had been selected as an Emerging
Leader Institute Scholar.
Finding a community of future family medicine leaders
The ELI conference in August was both inspiring and eye-opening, she said. Over several
days, Ko met medical students from across the country who shared her interest in family
medicine and heard the stories behind the projects that motivated them.
The 30 ELI Scholars were divided into three leadership tracks. Ko participated in
the policy and public health track, where scholars shared their project ideas, learned
from one another and explored the issues motivating their work.
For Ko, some of the most meaningful moments came simply from hearing the experiences
of the other scholars.
“It was like having an extended family,” she said.
The experience also provided opportunities to network with family medicine residency
programs, learn from physicians, and participate in educational sessions and procedures.
Perhaps most importantly, it reinforced for Ko that she is part of a much larger community
of people working to strengthen family medicine and improve care for the patients
and communities it serves.
Seeing a gap in the healthcare system
Ko’s ELI project grew naturally from another important part of her medical school
experience: her involvement with the Refugee Health Initiative.
As president of RHI, Ko has worked with student volunteers in a clinical setting that
serves refugee patients. What initially felt like an opportunity to volunteer and
take a break from studying began to reveal a much larger need.
Again and again, Ko noticed that patients were not only dealing with medical concerns.
Many were also trying to understand an unfamiliar healthcare system.
For someone who has experienced immigration firsthand, Ko recognized how different
navigating healthcare in the United States can be compared with other countries.
At RHI clinics, patients might need help understanding how to obtain insurance, make
an appointment with a primary care physician, or determine when they should see a
specialist. In some cases, patients arriving at acute-care clinics had never established
care with a primary care physician.
“Every time we go out there, if there is a serious injury or they need a referral,
we have to explain what number to call and how to fill out this application,” she
said. “It really surprised me that many of them have never been to an actual hospital.
They have only come to the acute care clinics, but they need chronic care. So many
of these refugees have never seen a PCP before.”
Some were unfamiliar with resources available to them. Others faced significant language
barriers that made an already complicated system even more difficult to navigate.
“The language barrier is significant, but they have never been told about these resources
either,” Ko said"
The need became especially apparent when patients required referrals or care beyond
what the clinic could provide. Volunteers sometimes found themselves explaining which
number to call, which application to complete, or where a patient should go next.
Those seemingly simple steps can become significant obstacles when a person is unfamiliar
with the system or does not speak the language.
Ko believes those barriers can contribute to refugee communities being overlooked.
Creating a healthcare navigation toolkit
Her ELI project seeks to address that gap.
Ko will work with RHI student volunteers to improve their knowledge and confidence
in helping refugee patients navigate the U.S. healthcare system while developing a
healthcare navigation toolkit for refugee communities.
The toolkit is envisioned as a practical, accessible resource explaining some of the
basic steps involved in navigating healthcare in the United States — from obtaining
insurance and establishing care with a primary care physician to understanding referrals
and the roles of different healthcare providers.
As part of the project, Ko is also planning a workshop with RHI volunteers in November.
The workshop will focus on equipping student volunteers with practical knowledge and
resources they can use when helping refugee patients navigate the U.S. healthcare
system.
The goal is not simply to create another pamphlet.
Ko sees the resource as a bridge — something that can help connect refugee patients
with a healthcare system that may otherwise feel confusing or inaccessible.
“This pamphlet can be a bridge in the system,” she said.
Looking beyond the project
The Emerging Leader Institute is allowing Ko not only to develop a project, but also
to develop as a leader. Through mentorship, collaboration, and exposure to other future
family medicine leaders, she is gaining a broader understanding of how physicians
can address challenges that extend beyond the walls of a clinic.
Her interest in family medicine and refugee health continues to grow from that perspective.
Ko’s ELI project is one small step toward addressing those challenges.
But for her, it is also part of a much larger journey — one that began with discovering
a passion for family medicine, was strengthened through the Boone-Nakamizo Scholarship
program, and continues through her leadership with RHI and now the Emerging Leader
Institute.
The project, after all, is not just about creating a resource. It is about equipping
future physicians to recognize barriers, listen to the communities they serve, and
help patients find their way through a healthcare system that can be difficult to
navigate.
Defining leadership in medicine can be difficult, but for Ko, that is what leadership in medicine can look like: identifying a need, building a bridge and helping others cross it.