Pre-Med Summit helps aspiring doctors set goals, plot a course toward success

The lessons from her high school anatomy class, Carolyn Knackstedt remembers, were the first sparks that ignited a passion and desire for a career in medicine.

"The science of disease caught my eye," she said of that class. "The pieces and parts of who we are, how we go together. It was just fascinating."

Carolyn was about 16 years old when a counselor told the Kenai Central High School student about the Alaska Pre-Med Summit at UAA. "I planned a trip up here," she said. "My grandparents live in Anchorage; I stayed with them so I could make it."

Now, nearly 10 years later, Carolyn is one of 20 students enrolled in the University of Washington's Alaska WWAMI School of Medical Education, at UAA.

She credits the annual Pre-Med Summit for informing her about UAA's Della Keats summer programs, introducing her to people who became UAA faculty and WWAMI student mentors, giving her information about numerous job shadowing and work opportunities and providing insights that shaped her into a well-prepared and knowledgeable candidate for medical school.

"When I was moving out of my parents' a few years ago, I found a bunch of notes I'd taken at my first Pre-Med Summit," Carolyn remembered. The notes described "what admissions people look for in a good applicant - interest in community service, work you'd done. It was good to have in the back of my head; these are the things I should focus on to make myself a good college applicant."

The 2018 Pre-Med Summit is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 7, at UAA's Rasmuson Hall.

The free event features a keynote from Dr. Jay Butler, chief medical officer for the State of Alaska: "Choosing a career path through medicine - When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

• Alaska WWAMI Director Jane Shelby and UW School of Medicine's director of admissions, Stella V. Yee, will speak.
• WWAMI students will take part in breakout sessions focused on nontraditional students, pre-college preparation, volunteer and job shadow experience.
• UAA and WWAMI faculty will discuss undergraduate preparation and research.
• Pre-Med Summit participants will have opportunities to practice suturing, see a Virtual Anatomy demo and engage in an activity at the Simulation Center.
• Participants will also have the chance to take part in a mock medical school interview and network with faculty and students.

Opening a portal to new opportunities

Her first Pre-Med Summit opened a new world and new possibilities for Carolyn.

"The first one, my takeaway was that I was definitely excited, definitely knew I wanted to check this out more," she said. "My commitment level went up."

Carolyn stopped at the Della Keats Summer Program/Summer Research Program booth, and decided to apply.

"I got lucky and got to spend that summer at UAA," she said. "That first year, I got to stay in the dorms. It was an important learning experience. I had to learn to budget not just money, but time. I made fast friends in that program that I'm still friends with today. I learned a lot about communication skills, research and writing skills, took classes in medical terminology, public health, microbiology."

Through Della Keats, she was able to job shadow - observe health care providers - and build knowledge in diverse health care settings, including in an emergency room, with pediatric cardiologists, and at a physical therapy clinic.

"You just don't know anybody who can get you into those things," she said of the Summit and Della Keats. "I was interested in taking care of people, getting to know people and learning how to get them on the path to recovery. I was excited because most of what I knew about life beyond high school I Googled. Not a whole lot of people go to medical school, so there are very few people you can directly talk to who have had those experiences. I got to see people who shared in those interests, get a collective understanding of what the possibilities were."

Last year, Carolyn became one of the people giving rather than receiving information at the Pre-Med Summit.

"I was on a panel last year, about pre-college preparation," she said. "It was almost like an out-of-body experience. It was really neat to be able to reflect on that, share what I'd gone through, what I'd learned. I met a couple of high school students in the audience in transition between presentations. Chatted with them, told them I started out in high school exploring my interest, and said they should look into summer programs through UAA, explore those interests like I had. They are."

Carolyn continued her exploration of health care by attending other Pre-Med Summits - through high school, after her 2011 high school graduation, and while she was home from attending college in Washington state. Carolyn graduated with honors from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma after earning a bachelor's degree in biology.

"The first time I went, I didn't know anybody," she said. "The more I went to, the more people I started to recognize there. One of them became a WWAMI student. Every time I went back, I got to see [other students'] progress. It was really neat to meet people from the community there."

Carolyn participated in the second, research-oriented part of the Della Keats program and found even more chances to build skills. While still in high school, she took certified nursing assistant classes so she could work at assisted living homes as a care attendant - which she did during summers while in college.  She also worked as a medical assistant for a doctor in Kenai, and received phlebotomy training.

"He was a wonderful mentor to me," she said of that doctor. "My job description was taking patients histories and vitals, which has been incredible for me in medical school. I'm pretty comfortable with taking patient histories."

Why did Carolyn want to become a doctor rather than continue in nursing?

"I weighed the pros and cons for a long time," she said. "I'd be happy anywhere in medicine. But ultimately, I wanted to be making most of the decisions for my patients, not carry out someone else's treatment plan. I wanted to make the treatment plan."

This summer, Carolyn starts her third-year rotation in WWAMI, "so I'll be out having fun elsewhere," she laughed.

"Starting in May, I'll be at Providence for family medicine and then pediatrics," she continued. "I'll be doing surgery at UW this fall. Since I'm 'Alaska Track,' [in WWAMI] most of my rotations are in Alaska and most Alaska rotations are in Anchorage."

Carolyn says she has not yet determined her end goal.

"I'm still exploring my interests," Carolyn said. "I definitely want to be some sort of primary care physician, help take care of most problems for people. Women's health care is also a passion of mine."

Her advice to aspiring doctors hoping to get into medical school?

"It's networking, and learning what they're looking for in you," she said. "These things show you're committed to this future, this career. You're not just going to get your college degree and apply, you need to be considering these other things as you're going through high school and preparing for college. What do you want to study in college? What kinds of things should you be doing outside the classroom?"

The preparation is vital. Previously, WWAMI had only 10 spots available for Alaskans hoping to study medicine; now, there are 20.

"I was so surprised by how competitive an institution we have right here in our state," Carolyn said. "It's surprising how much work you have to put in to ultimately be a competitive medical school applicant."

Carolyn applied to medical school, fielded responses, wrote essays, and then waited.

"The first snows of the winter, we got dumped on," she remembered. "I stopped at the mailbox and I found my letter, opened up in the car. I found out I got in and called up everyone in my family to let them know. I hadn't even made it home yet. It was the most relieving and happiest moment of my life so far."

Carolyn said she decided on WWAMI for several reasons.

"UW is the number-one primary care school in the country," she explained. "That was the big factor. Second most important factor is it was far more affordable: I get to pay in-state tuition as an Alaska student. And all my family's up here too. I get to see them every holiday now. I'm learning medicine in the context of Alaska. This is where I grew up and ultimately want to practice. It's nice learning about health care disparities here so I can better meet those needs someday."

Written by Tracy Kalytiak for UAA