Sharing Wisdom, Shedding Light

On Saturday January 9, respected community members came to speak with our Healers of Tomorrow about their career paths.  Our youth have been learning about health and healing in a broad sense over the past few months, and are interested in fields as diverse as neurosurgery, fashion, law, and engineering.  Many of our students are undecided about what they would like to do "when they grow up" and have seen this program as a step in towards figuring that out.   

We were fortunate to hear from a diverse array of health professionals including

• Medical Assistants
  
• Dentist
  
• Pharmacist
  
• Registered Nurse
  
• Medical Doctor
  
• Social Worker/ Mental Health Counselor 

Great wisdom was shared during this time!  We got to share the nuts and bolts of what work life balance is like for these different careers, advice on how to pick what college to go to, and what a typical day in the life is for our different careers.  

My favorite moment was when everyone was able to share an example of how they have helped someone.  In dentistry, there is the instant gratification of being able to repair someone's teeth and see a beautiful smile or to resolve pain.  Medical assistants and nurses shared the joy of getting to know patients over time and being able to relate to them using our diverse backgrounds in order to offer culturally competent support.  And our pharmacist shared the importance of being a last line of interaction between the patient and the medical home, an important bridge to health literacy and education for patients.  Most of the health professionals agreed that often the most gratifying part of their job was lending a listening ear to their patients.
And our most important lesson was -- don't give up!  The struggle towards your professional goals can be really challenging, and at times you may doubt yourself.  Ask for help, take care of yourself and keep doing your best and you'll get there!

Thank you so much to our wonderful guests and to our students as always.

In Peace and Health,
Dr. Malik