Connected by Their Love of Medicine, USU Medical Student Follows in Her Father’s Footsteps

Alexandra Bonavia, a Uniformed Services University (USU) School of Medicine student from the class of 2028, recounts her journey into medicine with encouragement from her father, a 2003 USU alumni.

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Ally (the baby) and her dad, mom, and sister celebrate Halloween by trick-or-treating at USU. Ally is a flower and her sister is a buzzing bee. (Photo courtesy of 2nd Lt. Alexandra Bonavia, USU)

August 15, 2024 by Vivian Mason

As far back as she can remember, Army 2nd Lt. Alexandra Bonavia knew her calling was medicine, inspired by her father, a dedicated radiologist. "At the dinner table, he'd pretend it was another Grand Rounds as he shared patient stories with us. It was like having a front-row seat to the world of medicine," Bonavia recalls fondly.

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Army 2nd Lt. Alexandra Bonavia, USU School of Medicine class of 2028. (Photo credit: Tom Balfour, USU)

When she was five years old, Bonavia would retreat to an upstairs bedroom, put on her father's uniform, and walk around trying to salute. "I wanted to be my dad, and I saw adopting military customs as the first step to becoming great," she recalls.

At sporting events, when the National Anthem was played, Bonavia recalls standing at attention beside him. "He's an incredible person, and I thought this is what made him an incredible human. Thinking back, it's been really amazing to grow up exposed to the military and its service members who are so invested in protecting, serving, and taking care of others."

Now a proud member of the Uniformed Services University's (USU) School of Medicine class of 2028, Bonavia is overjoyed to attend medical school. Her choice of profession was cemented in early childhood when she would pretend to do checkups on her family after being seen at the USU Family Health Clinic each year. She knew then that she wanted to take care of people.

Bonavia's dad, Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Grant Bonavia, graduated from USU in 2003 at age 33 and just recently retired after more than 24 years in the Navy. He was in medical school when his daughter was born. "I was the first baby born to his 2003 medical school class," she beams. "He takes great pride in that!"

Bonavia's father was always drawn to science and medicine. His mother was his high school science teacher. Unfortunately, he had a professor who led him to believe that medical school would be too hard and encouraged him not to become a doctor. So, he acquired his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry instead, but eventually decided that research wasn't for him. However, while at Syracuse University, he met his wife who encouraged him to pursue medical school.

Because of his experiences, Bonavia says her father was initially cautious about her pursuit of medicine. "He told me that medicine is hard, and if I wanted it, I'd have to figure it out on my own and do it."

But eventually, Bonavia's father came around and his encouragement empowered her pursuit of medicine. "He told me that this was my journey and encouraged me to chase it. Throughout the entire process, I realized that he actually gave me his blessing to do what I wanted, and this was a tremendous gift. He's so filled with grace. He let me make mistakes and figure it out on my own. I think it at least made me a better person, and I'm very thankful to him because of that."

Bonavia's first clinical job was at the USU Family Health Clinic. Her mom received OB/GYN care through this same clinic, and her family received all of their care there. When looking for a job right out of college, she was made aware of the clinic's medical assistant position that had just opened up, she applied, and she was hired.

"I worked in Family Medicine for two years," Bonavia says. "I was just obsessed. There are new patients constantly coming and going, but there's continuation with all of our older patients. It's really phenomenal. You can read a book and learn about all of the things I saw there, but it's another thing to actually be in the clinic and experience the people who really 'make the medicine.' I fell in love with it all over again."

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Ally (first row, far right) and some of the USU Family Health Clinic staff celebrating nurse Fatima Bashir's birthday. (Photo courtesy of 2nd Lt. Alexandra Bonavia, USU)

When she was accepted at USU, "I was on cloud nine," Bonavia beams. "For me, USU is the pinnacle of medicine. Seeing my dad go through USU and knowing what it taught him, especially about how to be a good person first, was something that I also wanted so desperately in my educational life."

Her father attests to the fact that the foundation that USU gives medical students both medically and professionally is simply unmatched. He believes that USU makes you a better person all around.

"And, that's something I had trouble finding when looking around for schools," Bonavia adds. "USU truly invests in the entire person and that person's family. I didn't find that anywhere else. I was just over the moon when the medical school said 'we'll take you.'"

While she's excited to be at USU, Bonavia admits that, so far, the entire medical school process is the hardest thing she's ever done, but the nature of the work makes it easy to be reassured. "On those days when I'm really stressed out, I sit and think that this is what I've wanted to do my entire life. And, at the end of my life, I want to be able to say that I've touched people's lives in a positive way."

Bonavia is thankful for the military and the transformative aspects of her education and training. "I think a really beautiful thing about the military is that we're here to take care of our service members. It's amazing when you see service members or their families. It's more about how you can take care of them, not how much their medical care will be. In this learning environment, you don't have that extra stress of wondering how we can get that person care based on what they can afford."

Bonavia says she's looking forward to meeting her classmates and teammates. "I don't know how USU does it, but the people selected to attend all the programs here are just so extraordinary, unique, and driven," she exclaims. "It leaves me speechless. I'm really looking forward to meeting all of the students selected by USU to be the next generation of healthcare professionals."

Reflectively, Bonavia adds, "I've had so many people impact my life and care for me in such a way that I'll remember forever. I'm really passionate about passing that down. I want to do that for the next generation of students."

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