Interview with Grace Jurgiel '24

Meet Grace Jurgiel

Grace is a second-year student and President-Elect of the SGA here at TUSPM. Before beginning podiatry school, she graduated from UMass Amherst studying Public Health with a focus on Community Health Education. A lover of travel, she spent time in Scotland and Segal Podiatry in Martha’s Vineyard before joining the TUSPM community.

Working with Dr. Segel opened her eyes to the impact that podiatrists can have on a patient, the vast scope of their practice, and the opportunities for growth in the field. Combined with her background in public health and a growing interest in the impact that 3D printing can make in orthotics, she felt that podiatry school was a natural next choice. Since 2017, Grace has worked with Noraxon equipment aimed at better understanding gait. Her interests include biomechanics, wound care, and nutritionally based preventative medicine. As she delves more into the field, her future research interests include nonsurgical solutions to surgical pathologies and postoperative effects on gait using computer aided gait analysis.

Here at Temple, Grace is a student leader who looks up to the classmates, faculty, and clinicians who have inspired her with their vibrant community and excitement for the future of podiatry. “They give me hope for the field in general,” she said. She looks forward to the future and is continually working on becoming the best version of herself, as she’d describe her greatest accomplishment thus far as “what is to come.” She recognizes this version of herself to be a work in progress. For anyone interested in joining the podiatric medical community, Grace advises that they let their purpose and passion drive them and lead them down the best path. “Don’t enter if you aren’t driven by purpose,” Grace advised. It’s clear she’s followed her own advice thus far, and we look forward to what's to come as much as she does.