Feeling enthusiastic about a specific course, but it does not fit your major’s requirements? Take it! Feeling hesitant to change your major to a major that you are genuinely passionate about? Why not, since you are still contributing to diversity in the health field by bringing an interdisciplinary view to medicine. Continue reading
A lot of students find it daunting to begin their first clinical experience, especially if they will be working with patients directly for the first time. I remember being terrified, shaking and palms sweating, the first time I walked into my hospital. But, I kept an open mind, always asked questions, and took every opportunity to learn. I was flexible, I communicated with my coworkers, I helped however I could, and now I’m very confident in my work. I also have a much stronger stomach.
Hi there. I’m a second-semester junior and am still not sure about what I’m doing with my life (*laugh out loud*).
I feel that as an undergraduate student, there are a lot of faculty, staff, and upperclassmen that try to ‘calm’ pre-health students down and remind us to breathe. But, ironically, we, the students, don’t do that even though we try. We get inside our own heads, think of the worst possible scenarios, and compare ourselves to other students. Why? It’s because we think we are seen as nothing more than applicants to our future medical, dental, PA, and other schools.
Well, well, well, here we are nearing halfway into our Spring 2022 semester. I’m almost halfway done with semester 6 in my journey here at UConn and I do have to say time has flown by. Although I’ve done this six times now, it does not keep me from the feelings of tiredness and being overwhelmed–feeling like I don’t have control of every single aspect of my life. If you’re feeling the same way, YOU. ARE. NOT. ALONE.
I know that we have to do a lot of things to get into medical school. There are long lists of classes, activities, and characteristics we feel we need to complete. While pre-med advisors caution against a box-checking approach, certain suggestions for pre-meds hold more significance than others. I’d like to tell you about the importance of clinical experience, speaking from my own perspective.
You really have no idea what the hospital is like until you work there. I’ve volunteered in various capacities in hospitals and clinics many times over the years. Yet, I felt that I experienced and learned more in a single day of work as an inpatient Patient Care Technician (PCT) than I had in all of my years of volunteering. That’s not to say that my volunteering felt meaningless, but rather, that my clinical experience was so much more meaningful for me. Continue reading