Pre-Health Student Resource Center

Best Words Of Advice For Students
This campus has so many useful resources, including the Pre Health Student Resource Center for any student interested in any health career to explore, prepare and apply to a health profession.

How did I become a career development professional?
A bit by accident. I worked in the field of Public Health for years, and part of my focus while doing that work was to help diversify the field of public health, and to run a leadership development program for emerging leaders. When I was recruited to the Pre-Health Student Resource Center it was a similar set of outcomes but focused on undergraduate students instead.

What’s one thing I would do if I were able to do it?
I would help students understand that going to another country and performing any health care as an unlicensed person (no degree as a health professional) is both unethical and illegal, and I would also argue grounded in a misguided sense of privilege. I want students to be Global Ambassadors for Patient Safety and to go abroad to study now, and later as a health professional go abroad to actually help through capacity building and learning from our colleagues abroad. https://healthcareers.umn.edu/courses-and-events/online-workshops/global-ambassadors-patient-safety

Out of Work Obsessions
Being outside and enjoying nature, on a bike, in a kayak, hiking, or just walking

How did you gain experience when you were a student?
I called around and asked clinics if I could volunteer or work there. I used my network of friends and professors to access experiences.

Best Words of Advice for Students
Network! It’s so often about who you know and who they know.

Out of Work Obsession
My cats, hiking, kayaking, traveling, and lately reading.

How did you gain experience when you were a student?
I entered college with a mentality of being open to trying new things. I tried new sports and joined clubs to learn about myself and to create my new “community” of friends. I knew early on that I liked roles where I could be a resource and support for others, as I had consistently had similar roles throughout high school. I let that guide my exploration of how to continue to foster and develop that interest and skill set. I joined the Psychology Department student group and held office hours for students to come and ask questions about classes or talk about stressors they were experiencing. This confirmed for me that I wanted a career where I was working with people and could be relied upon for support. As an undergraduate student, I held a variety of jobs. I enjoyed and excelled in my statistics classes and psychology major classes so I TA’d for each of those. Additionally, I got to know a professor very well and they served as a profound inspiration in my academic pursuits. I worked at a hotel front desk and at a restaurant. I worked on organic farms and did various home improvement projects while studying abroad. While these experiences left an indelible mark on my personal growth and development and established a love for culture and travel, it also confirmed for me that I was more fulfilled with education and pursuit of a consistent career that more-directly aligned with my interests and passions. It helped me realize that I wanted to pursue higher education and a career where I was in service to others emotionally and developmentally.

How did you become a career development professional?
Worked in social services as a support to adults with mental illness in finding meaningful employment. It became apparent to me that having alignment in your job and your values is something that I found great joy in and also saw as tantamount to having meaning and purpose in life. It is a joy to be working with such prodigious, eager, driven students who are beginning their career paths.

Out of Work Obsessions
I love reading/listening to audiobooks! I enjoy a variety of topics from historical fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, leadership and self-improvement. Last year I read 84 books and this year is looking good, too.

Best Words of Advice for Students
Be curious and open to exploring new experiences, be persistent to work through obstacles, and stay flexible and optimistic to chance opportunities that may come your way. (JK!)

How did you gain experience when you were a student?
I wanted to be a social worker, and aimed to be accepted into the Bachelor of Social Work program at UW Madison so that I could later do a shorter, 1-year Master of Social Work program. To gain experience and explore areas of social work, I volunteered at a food pantry and at a residential facility for older adults who had developmental disabilities. I also wanted to get involved in research, and ended up connecting with a professor in the School of Social Work. Through her I had the opportunity to code and analyze 19 interviews with fathers who had previously been incarcerated. I later presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, which was an amazing experience! I held a few jobs in college at various times, too; I had a part time job as an Office Assistant at the Wisconsin Equity and Inclusion Laboratory, waited tables at a restaurant, and worked at one of the campus gyms.

All of these experiences were valuable in different ways. They taught me teamwork, compassion, perseverance, how to make mistakes and move forward from them, and so much more. I learned about myself and what I enjoyed doing. These reflections helped me make career decisions going forward.

How did you become a career development professional?
I worked on the social services team in a skilled nursing facility during the first year of COVID. I became interested in the burnout I was seeing among the health professionals I worked with, and the burnout I was starting to experience myself. Beginning my Master’s program, I decided I wanted to support students on their way to becoming professionals like the ones I’d worked with, supporting them so that they could enter into their careers as confidently as possible, and with a sense of meaning that they could return to even in their most challenging of moments. I also saw that our health workforce didn’t represent the populations we served, and I wanted to be a part of making the journey to becoming a health professional more equitable and accessible. That led me to the Pre-Health Student Resource Center!

Best Words of Advice for Students
Remember that you are a learner, in way more ways than you might be aware of–socially, emotionally, academically, financially, etc. In college, you’re learning content in courses, but you’re also learning how to study, how to break up larger assignments, and how to recover from a presentation that didn’t go well. You’re probably learning how to live independently, manage your time and money, and care for friends old and new. Honor that you are a learner, and have compassion for yourself, just as you would have compassion for a friend in similar circumstances as yours. Many things that are difficult now will get easier.

Out of Work Obsession
Baking bread–which has various outcomes! That’s what makes it fun.

How did you gain experience when you were a student?
I sought out help from a professor who I really admired. She gave me connections to great places where I was able to gain experience. She became a great mentor for me and she was one of my writers for my letters of recommendation when I applied for graduate school. To this day, I still keep in touch with her and still seek advice from her when I’m not sure where to start on projects or situations that come up that I am not familiar with.

How did you become a career development professional?
In my previous role as an Academic Advisor, I realized that many students are thinking beyond the undergraduate. During my graduate school years, they only prepared me to work for undergraduate students who were just trying to obtain a Bachelor’s degree. But working with students who were thinking about being a doctor, physical therapist, radiologist, I realized that I don’t have any skill sets or advice for those students. Taking on my current role, I’m able to expand beyond the undergraduate and get into the world of health professionals degree programs and learn more on how to guide students who are going in that route.

Best Words of Advice for Students
During your undergraduate years, it will be an eye opening experience. You’ll face obstacles that will either make or break you. But in the end, it’s how you take it in and what you’ll learn from it.

Life Story
I am a first generation college graduate. I am the 2nd youngest out of 9 siblings. My parents were the first wave of Hmong refugees that came to the United States a little over 45 years ago. Neither of my parents held a college degree as English was not their first language. Going to college was something my parents really embedded in me and my siblings. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with my Bachelors in Human Development. From there I went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and got my Master’s of Education in Student Affairs Administration for Higher Education. My college and graduate school years were the hardest but it has shaped me into being who I am today. I faced obstacles that really hit me as a student and as an individual but I found comfort in my colleagues and friends who shared the same/similar identities as me and they helped me through while I also helped myself.

How did you gain experience as a student?
My advice would be to apply to student jobs that build your resume. I was really lucky to have jobs in undergrad that gave me a lot of translateable experience. Since student jobs don’t necessarily require prior office or lab experience, it can be a great way to begin learning skills that are needed in the work place, especially since many jobs out of undergrad want applicants that already have experience.