Nisky Student Creates High School's First Premed Club

by Hilary Htun

Of the 30 fastest growing occupations in the United States, 18 are in healthcare and related fields, attracting the interest of more and more students every year. In order to create a community for those looking to pursue a profession in health in the future, Niskayuna junior Patrick Yang has founded the school’s first Pre-med/Human Biology club. Following approval, an email was sent out announcing the club’s first meeting. Just five days later, the club met to introduce its members to one another for the first time.

The goal of the club is to help promote interest by simply providing kids with information. In the club, Yang envisions a community where students could explore human biology with students who share their passions and interests. During meetings, his plan is to watch TedTalks or videos involving interesting human biology topics. Then afterwards, discuss the information with each other. As time passes and more people join, they hope to also have health care professionals or students explain their experiences in pre-med.

In the future, the club plans to affiliate themselves with larger organizations such as HOSA (for future health care professionals). They also plan to set up fundraisers for St. Jude’s hospital, Red Cross, American Cancer Society, as well as set up volunteering opportunities at local hospitals and make easy access to shadowing doctors.

In addition to receiving support from the student body, multiple alumni have commented on the club as well. Keenan Duggal, a recent Niskayuna graduate, states “This would've been very helpful and something I wish I had initiated when I was in high school. I went into college with lots of volunteer experience and exposure to medicine, but not everyone is that fortunate. Some students go into med completely clueless of all the work that it entails and get a rough wake-up call. So at this stage info about BS/MD programs might be very useful. Look up programs in your state/area and provide information about those. And while just exploring medicine at school is fine and all, another direction they could take is to reach out to local physicians and try to get a shadowing program going. Really, with that you’ll give people resources, data, and a timeline to succeed. Light a fire behind them so they don’t get to their junior year and regret not participating in more extracurriculars.” Another Niskayuna graduate says “I think that the volunteering is a great idea. It won't count for your future med school application in college but it will get people used to regular volunteering which is a huge part of pre-med life. And, of course, the mentorship will be really useful as well.”

If you or a friend are interested in joining, Yang states that everyone is welcome in the club. “We’d love to have you here with us. Find out if a career in medicine is right for you! Get an inside view on what different types of physicians and health care providers do, discuss current topics in medicine and the changing world of healthcare, and volunteer to help the medically underserved within our community.” An information forum was sent out to the 18 initial members to confirm dates: meetings will be held weekly on Tuesdays starting after break. To join the google classroom, use the code “os75eeb” with your personal email and not your school email. And for additional questions or information, you can also email Patrick at yan23360@stu.niskyschools.org.