Junior participates in highly selective health program
Junior Yonis Said says his “academic adventure” started with his very first science course in high school.
After that single class, he was hooked on learning everything about the makeup of the world and everything that lives in it. This summer Said continued his exploration into the world of science through a medical science program.
He successfully applied to a national, highly selective, program called the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP). Said, from Minnesota, is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology and has a second individualized major–Global Culture & Religion. He is heavily involved with the Spiritual Life Office on campus and plays competitively with the Cornell Esports program on the League of Legends team.
Students learn about a variety of health professions including medicine, dentistry, nursing, public health, and more. Said attended the summer program at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine.
“The six-week program was filled with engaging lessons about the intricacies of the diverse applications of health care, building my skillset with hands-on workshops, and fortifying education with mentorship,” Said says. “I was very fortunate to have been selected and will make use of every grain of knowledge and experience I have gained in my journey as a scholar and aspiring physician.”
He says his summer journey also helped him see and understand the weakness in the U.S. healthcare system for those in underserved communities trying to access it. He met with several patients while volunteering for a mobile clinic.
“One of the visitors I took vitals for carried a severe health issue for more than two years, despite it being very treatable, due to the cost of the surgery without health insurance,” Said says. “During a shadowing experience at the emergency department, I witnessed more health disparities play out. This has made me yearn to participate in public health to aid communities in any way as I strive forward in my career as a physician.”
Said says he enjoyed shadowing and learning from emergency physicians. He closely watched how doctors interacted with patients and found a new desire to become an emergency physician. He says after meeting and working with so many physicians and peers aspiring to join the field, he is steadfast in his determination to become a doctor and has more confidence that he can achieve his goals due to the opportunity to leverage the immersive experience and knowledge the program offered
“The most surprising part of the program was seeing so many aspiring healthcare professionals who are from similar backgrounds and also learning just how much of an impact having minority doctors has on minority patients,” Said says.
He also says for him, it’s powerful to experience the ever-growing world of medicine, a discipline that layers science with compassion.
“Although engaging with ill and infirm patients has shown me the reality of medicine, I strive to be a healthcare worker because I also believe that it holds a great privilege to support them and their families at such a difficult time,” Said says. “I aspire to be a physician who can have this honorable role in providing healthcare, especially in underserved communities.”
