During his second year of college at the University of Central Florida, Andrew Aboujaoude ’14 and some friends engaged in a conversation with a homeless man who explained his troubles with the healthcare system. As they talked, a car drove by and threw eggs at them.
“I knew I had a choice to make,” Aboujaoude said. “I could be indifferent or proactive.”
He chose to be proactive.
Initial Stages
Hearts for the Homeless was created in the fall of 2016. The organization betters the health care of homeless individuals by offering free blood pressure screenings and education, according to their website.
Since their start, their goals have continued to evolve as the organization expands.
“If you would have asked me seven or eight years ago, our initial goal was to help prevent cardio diseases by mitigating hypertension,” Aboujaoude said.
Now, the organization provides mental health screenings, health education and helps connect thousands of homeless people with additional proximal healthcare resources.
“We want to become a unified structure throughout the world so we can help as many people as possible,” Aboujaoude said.
The organization’s first chapter was at the University of Central Florida, and now there are over 50 chapters around the world in countries including Zimbabwe, India and Ukraine.
There are volunteer opportunities for college students as well as high school students who are interested in starting their own chapter or ambassador positions.
While their offerings may vary, a typical event offers resources like blood pressure screenings.
“We do these screenings frequently so we can monitor their progress and give them ways to improve or maintain their health,” Aboujaoude said.
Greenhill
Aboujaoude attended Greenhill for his junior and senior years of Upper School.
There were two teachers Aboujaoude says had a significant impact on him: former Upper School English teacher Dan Kasten and Upper School history teacher Scott Cotton.
Kasten achieved Greenhill Legend status after teaching 33 years on campus, and passed away due to esophageal cancer three years after Aboujaoude’s graduation.
“[Kasten] embodied the spirit of kindness and free-spiritedness. He was truly a community man,” Aboujaoude said.
Cotton recalls Aboujaoude as a high achiever.
“Andrew was a very curious and conscientious student,” Cotton said. “Very friendly, very collaborative and a really good critical thinker.”
Aboujaoude values the time he spent in Cotton’s Understanding 9/11 class.
“[Cotton] challenged me to see things from other perspectives,” Aboujaoude said.
The lessons that Aboujaoude learned from Kasten and Cotton during his time at Greenhill have shaped who he is and the career path he’s chosen, he says. These lessons came back to him the day he got egged while he and his friends were talking to the homeless man, the day he credits the idea of Hearts for the Homeless was born.
“The most challenged I’ve [ever] been was during my time at Greenhill, even compared to my medical school and being a captain and a Medical Corps Officer in the US Air Force,” Aboujaoude said.
College and Military
Aboujaoude graduated in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. In 2022, he graduated with a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, and he is now studying anesthesiology at Columbia University.
During medical school, Aboujaoude started his journey in the military with a program called Health Professions Scholarship. With this program, he has served in the reserves and has periods of activation to active duty. These tours vary from Officer Training School to doing away tours where they serve and learn at military hospitals.
“I did my [active duty tour] at our [the US Air Force] major hospital in San Antonio,” Aboujaoude said.
In San Antonio, Aboujaoude took care of military families, veterans and active-duty troops who were sent back from overseas and needed medical care.
“Once I complete residency two to three years from now, I will go full active duty,” Aboujaoude said.
Aboujaoude says his responsibilities post residency could include serving with the Critical Care Air Transport Team, with a flying Intensive Care Unit on a C130 plane, or with the Forward Surgical Team, a team next to the frontlines or special operations.
“My typical day for the past years has been at a civilian institution [UT Southwestern or Colombia] and entails what a medical student or resident goes through,” Aboujaoude said. “Only difference is those months of active-duty tours, [and] as of now that entails serving at a domestic military hospital.”
Aboujaoude says that his passion keeps him motivated.
“The reality is I do what I love, and the rest works itself out,” Aboujaoude said.
Clinton Global Initiative University
In 2016, Aboujaoude was a part of the cohort for the Clinton Global Initiative University where he won the Resolution Prize Grant at a conference at the University of California, Berkeley.
The CGIU was founded by former President Bill Clinton in 2007. The university is a facet of the Clinton Foundation where they invest in college students with ideas that aim to serve communities.
They host annual in-person meetings at a location that changes yearly in addition to various online meetings where they have the opportunity to win grants and listen to panel discussions.
At the start, Hearts for the Homeless had practically no support from others, but that changed when Aboujaoude was told to apply to the CGIU.
In 2018, at a conference at the University of Chicago, Aboujaoude was honored with the CGIU Alumni Honor Roll Award. There, he was told that Hearts for the Homeless has had the greatest impact on their university.
In 2023, he was invited to be on a panel with Chelsea Clinton at a roundtable luncheon at Vanderbilt University, where they talked about the future of healthcare in the United States.
“It’s exciting that this is all happening,” Aboujaoude said.
