Jason Hernandez now looks to earn his doctorate in Physical Therapy at URI
When Jason Hernandez was a young boy growing up in Providence, he would frequently accompany his mother and father to doctor’s and dentist’s appointments, even when he wasn’t the patient. Instead, he was the translator.
A first-generation American, Hernandez grew up in a Spanish-speaking household after his parents, Julian and Luz Hernandez, moved to Rhode Island from the Dominican Republic. At a young age, he learned the challenges Spanish-speaking people face in an English-majority community, especially the difficulty they face communicating with health professionals and understanding treatment options.
“There are language barriers in a lot of industries, especially health care. Through multiple observations in clinics during internships, I’ve seen people struggle with that language barrier,” Hernandez said. “There’s no Spanish representation in a lot of those places. In a state where Spanish is spoken so widely, the fact that there is so little translation or services to cater to those populations, I find frustrating. I know I’m only one person; I can only make so much of a difference. But overall, I want to contribute toward that difference, and contribute to trying to get more diversity overall in those health care industries.”
Hernandez has taken the first step toward that goal, earning a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology as he graduates from the College of Health Sciences this May. He had considered other health disciplines, including becoming a nurse, when he was deciding on his future as a student-athlete at Classical High School. He ultimately decided to combine his love of exercise and athletics with his quest to help others’ health and well-being.
“I always knew I wanted to do something in the health care industry; I’ve always wanted a career where I could serve the public in some way,” Hernandez said. “I come from an athletic background; I was always interested in movement and movement sciences. Ultimately, I decided to lean toward physical therapy. My interest in sports, rehabilitation, movement sciences, along with helping people overall, I thought there’s no better way to go than physical therapy, and kinesiology was a good way to start toward that goal.”
Hernandez leaned into his career plan, going beyond the classroom to help prepare himself. He secured a job with campus recreation, teaching group exercise classes and serving as a personal trainer. He served several internships, including at Specialized Orthopedic in Warwick, where he got the chance to closely observe certified physical therapists work with patients and get some hands-on experience.
“I’m very grateful that this major and the curriculum overall requires an internship. I feel like that’s really important, not only for my enhancement of knowledge, but also to see what this looks like in the real world,” Hernandez said. “That was a tremendous experience. It confirmed my goal to want to pursue kinesiology and physical therapy.”
The work Hernandez has done with his advisor and research mentor, Assistant Professor Mark Hartman, further cemented his fascination with movement science, and helped propel him toward his health care goals. He has worked on multiple research projects, including one involving Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, exploring whether stimulation to the prefrontal cortex could potentially enhance study participants’ feelings toward exercise, setting them on the right track to become healthier. He and Hartman have also partnered with researchers from the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences on an investigative study to determine whether joint exercise and physical activity can improve personal relationships, in addition to individual health.
“I’ve been amazed to see how much Jason has grown over the past few years,” Hartman said. “Like many students, the COVID-19 situation presented many challenges to Jason’s academics, social life and mental health. However, early on, Jason was determined to overcome these challenges. Where other students may have reduced their workload, Jason sought opportunities to become more involved in academics. Initiative and determination are Jason’s greatest strengths. He was the first to volunteer when I needed student assistance with a project, and he played significant roles in assisting and conducting research for two grant-funded projects.”
Those studies, along with his hands-on internship experience and diversity of classes he has been exposed to, have helped inspire Hernandez to continue his work in physical therapy. He has been accepted to the URI graduate program in physical therapy, where he will begin his work toward a doctorate degree in the fall.
“It has been a tremendous experience here. Throughout each year, I feel like I have grown into a more mature, professional young adult,” Hernandez said. “The challenging course of kinesiology in itself has been great for me in terms of being able to take on challenges and succeed at a high level. There have been elements that I didn’t know it got into, like the psychology of exercise and the physiology of exercise. I wasn’t aware we were going to dive deep into those subjects, but it ended up being a great interest of mine. It’s definitely shaped me into a different person.”
At the same time, Hernandez is still that young boy accompanying his parents to doctors’ offices to help translate diagnoses and treatments. That experience helped him realize Hispanic and other minority communities are underrepresented in the health care industries, putting members of those communities at a disadvantage. He realized from a young age that he could combine his love of athletics with a passion for caring for others to help enact change and provide a valuable service to members of his community.
“I am a person of color; I’m Hispanic. I want to help all populations and all people, but especially those populations that might be a little disadvantaged and not get the same opportunities as others,” Hernandez said. “I believe that on the route I’m heading toward, there aren’t many people pursuing that career, or in the health professions in general. Anything I can do to help my community—and give people motivation and an outlook that ‘wow, there’s a person doing this who may look like me and may have the same ideas as me,’—was always something that I wanted to pursue. I know I’m just one person, but I see it as it’s one person closer toward that goal.”