"WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DECIDE ON A HEALTH CAREER, APPLY, AND CHOOSE THE RIGHT FIT" BY HANNAH DAVIS (CAL POLY CLASS OF 2019)

Hello!

My name is Hannah Davis and I used to be a Pre-Health Peer Advisor. I wanted give the perspective of a current student getting experiences, applying to schools, and figuring out the best fit as a Cal Poly student. I have learned a lot on this path and wanted to share my insight.

To start, I was a very lost freshmen as a Biology  major pursuing medical school. I felt at times that everyone around me had their future figured out and felt very unsure of my own. Turns out, everyone is working on figuring out what is best for them and everyone feels lost and confused at times. It’s very normal, and in those times you will learn the most about what you truly want and what is best for you and be more confident in those decisions. After a few classes, I realized I was more interested in Psychology, so I switched my major at the end of my first year. It really doesn’t matter what major you are, it just matters that you are passionate about it and are enjoying what you are learning.

Next, I sought experiences in the health field to figure out if med school is what I really wanted to do. So I became an Emergency Medical Technician the summer after my freshman year. It was extremely exciting to be able to interact with patients and other medical professionals. Learning those basic life saving skills allowed me to apply other opportunities since I had the certification. I learned that working on an ambulance is not what I imagined and that I really didn’t know the differences between the role of a nurse, physician, physician’s assistant, and paramedic as well as I thought I did. That is also very normal, unless you have spent a lot of time in a hospital it would be very hard to learn this, college is a great time to explore the hundreds of careers health care offers.

I wanted to learn more about health care in general, so I applied for anything and everything. In one quarter, I had interviews for Peer Advising, PULSE, and a scribe job. I thought the scribe job would be the best thing on my resume and was super bummed when I didn’t get it. However, I learned that leadership, community service, and research are such valuable experiences that I would have not had as much time to experience. Also just time for fun hobbies that you have always wanted to try (highly recommend the 1 unit bowling and tennis KINE classes) or the craft center. I feel much more well rounded as a person because of these diverse experiences and now my resume reflects that. Do NOT do something just because you think it will look good on your resume.  Pick and choose what you would be able to talk about for hours because you learned a lot about yourself, your career, and your interests.