Connor Enestvedt ’26 hopes medical school will lead to international service
Connor Enestvedt ’26 hopes medical school will lead to international service
By Vicki-Ann Downing ’21G
Connor Enestvedt ’26 is a step closer to his goal of joining Doctors Without Borders thanks to early acceptance to medical school during his junior year at Providence College.
Enestvedt, from Cumberland, Rhode Island, is a member of the Honors Program majoring in biology with a minor in French. In January 2025, he was accepted to the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University through its Early Identification Program, which is open to high-achieving students at colleges in Rhode Island. Braeden Shields ’26 from Barrington, Rhode Island, a double major in biology and in health policy and management, was accepted as well. They will begin studies in August 2026.
Enestvedt became focused on the Brown program after reading about it on the PC website at the end of his first year of college. Morgan Rayner, health professions advisor at PC, shared the application requirements with him. He applied in November 2024, was interviewed via Zoom in January 2025, and learned of his acceptance a week later.
As a student at Cumberland High School, Enestvedt considered a career as a physician assistant. Medical school became his preference after his experience working as a medical assistant at Lincoln Urgent Care before his sophomore year at PC. He worked alongside doctors and PAs, taking patient histories, collecting vital signs, giving injections, and assisting with other procedures.
Enestvedt also spent a month in the summer of 2024 in Brown’s Rhode to Medicine Program, a four-week enrichment program designed to introduce students to post-secondary medical and health science degree programs. He spent time in anatomy and emergency room simulation laboratories, learned about ultrasound, and heard advice on how to get into medical school.
His hope is to one day work with Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian organization that provides medical care in conflict zones and crisis situations around the world. He learned about the charity in a first-year French class in high school. The organization serves many French-speaking countries, so knowledge of the language is preferred, and those who join must have considerable experience as physicians. Enestvedt has been president of PC’s French Club for two years.
Service to others is a tradition in his family. Enestvedt has volunteered “my whole life” in the community garden at Franklin Farm in Cumberland, a town-owned site focused on growing fresh vegetables for food banks across Rhode Island and historic preservation of the property. For his Eagle Scout project, Enestvedt refurbished a trailer serving as a hay wagon at the farm.
Enestvedt’s academic success led to an invitation to join Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious honor society for the liberal arts and sciences in the United States, during his junior year. He also is a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the honor society for health professions, and Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society.
Enestvedt embraced research opportunities on campus. He worked with Pamela Snodgrass-Belt, Ph.D. ’91, adjunct faculty in biology, studying circadian rhythms in fruit flies and noting the effect on brain metabolism and activity. He received an undergraduate research grant to support the research during his junior year and a Walsh Student Research Fellowship for summer research as well. He presented his findings at the college’s annual Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity in April 2025.
A licensed EMT since age 18, Enestvedt has been employed as a student worker in the athletic training room since his first year at PC. He assists the athletic trainers who help student-athletes with stretching, ultrasound, red light therapy, and compression, among other tasks. He is director of sports broadcasting for the student radio station, WDOM, providing play-by-play commentary during basketball, hockey, and soccer games, and plays for the Ultimate Frisbee club team.
In August 2025, Enestvedt and Shields were invited by Brown to join the incoming class of medical students for the first month of school. They attended lectures and even took the first exam. As Enestvedt looks forward to beginning medical studies with the Class of 2030, he is grateful to Snodgrass-Belt and the other professors who have helped him, including Marla Tipping, Ph.D., associate professor of biology; Alioune Badara Fall, assistant professor of French; and Seann Mulcahy, professor of chemistry.
Four years ago, before he started classes at PC, Enestvedt chose to arrive on campus a week early to take part in Urban Action, a community service tradition for more than three decades. He joined fellow students in the Class of 2026 in a neighborhood cleanup project and helped prepare Times2 STEM Academy and the Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School for the start of new academic year.
He appreciates the experiences the college has offered him.
“I was able to get involved in research so easily,” Enestvedt said. “I know all of my professors really well because the class sizes are so small. Overall, it’s been a great experience.”
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