Degree/training: I am still a high school senior, but I have plans to pursue a degree in biochemistry and then attend medical school.
Career Aspiration: I would like to be an anesthesiologist.
Why did you choose your career path? I have wanted to be in the medical field for pretty much my entire life. Coming from a family where both of my parents are physical therapists, I grew up around the medical field. My career aspirations have changed many times since I originally decided that I wanted to be in the medical field, for example, going into my freshman year of high school wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. What
draws me to anesthesia specifically is love of chemistry as well as getting to work with patients.
Where did you hear about a health career path and how did you enter this path? I have known about this career path ever since I was little because of my parents and other family members being involved with the heath science field. Additionally being a student at RVGS has helped me do research in the field of medicine and start to help me progress to reach my goals of entering this career path.
What advice would you give those who are guiding students into health careers? I would say that many students that want to go into a health career do not know much about how many different career paths there are in medicine and it is not only limited to nursing and becoming a physician. While that may be the passions of some and they are important careers, there are so many other health related careers that are also very
important that might fit their interests better. I think that these students should be given all of the options so they know what they will be happiest and have the most passion doing.
Did you start to think about this career path in middle school? I have really always wanted to have a career in medicine whether it be one the research side of things or the clinical. Towards the end of middle school specifically was when I completely set my heart on becoming a physician. I would say the biggest thing that contributed to this decision was a field trip we had in school to the hospital where we got to hear about
health careers and they took us through basic emergency medicine techniques like how to pack a wound and how to use a tourniquet as well as guided us through a small mock surgery. Between those hands on experiences and just simply being in the hospital I could see that this was something that I wanted to pursue as a career.
If you completed an internship, tell us about it. I am currently pursuing a mentorship through RVGS mentorship program with the Yan Lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Through this mentorship I will get to work with the lab and deepen my research experience. I am currently in the phase of attending lab meetings and shadowing lab members, but I will eventually start my own research project in the lab
with the guidance of Dr. Yan and the other lab members.
What high school courses do you feel helped you? I feel like being at the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School has helped me a lot as the classes are very rigorous and all of the teachers are very supportive. The specific classes that I have taken there that I would say helped me the most were biology and chemistry, as well as all of the research electives I have taken there (specifically microbiology and biotechnology). I would also say that my sports medicine class through the Roanoke Technical Education Center (ROTEC) that I took at Patrick Henry High School was also very helpful.
What courses do you wish you took to prepare you for current health career training? I do wish that I would have had the chance to take some of the other health career specific classes through ROTEC at PHHS, but other than that I have been happy with my courses so far.