Vicky Vo
Vicky Vo is a rising fourth-year student at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a dual degree in Nursing and a Master of Public Health at the Perelman School of Medicine with a double minor in Native American & Indigenous Studies and Bioethics. Originally from the Southwest, Vicky has an intimate relationship with structural barriers to care. Vicky’s commitment to health equity is rooted in lived experiences growing up on a resource-limited Native reservation and navigating unreliable healthcare access. These experiences have shaped their understanding of how social determinants impact patient outcomes, reinforcing their drive to transform healthcare systems through clinical care, research, policy, and law. After graduation, Vo plans to attend law school and lead at the intersection of nursing, policy, and research to build more equitable and accessible systems of care.
During the SUMR program, Vo is investigating disparities in day vs. night shift nurse staffing ratios and their effects on patient safety and care quality across hospital systems, under the mentorship of Dr. Karen Lasater. As part of this project, Vo is examining the extent to which disparities in nursing resources contribute to equity gaps in hospital outcomes, including mortality, readmission rates, and length of stay.
At Penn, Vicky is a Research Assistant at both the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research and the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health. They currently serve as President of Student Nurses at Penn, Co-Founder and Co-President of the United Nations Association at Penn, Legislative Coordinator of the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania, and Resolutions Chair of the National Student Nurses Association. Vicky is also actively involved with Penn Student Government, the Nursing Dean’s Advisory Workgroup, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, Vietnamese Student Association, Penn Hawai‘i Club, Natives at Penn, Penn Philippine Association, and Penn Kayaking Club. In their free time, Vicky enjoys kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, weightlifting, obstacle course racing, cooking for friends, exploring the East Coast, collecting trinkets, and writing