Isabella Heath ‘24 reflects on the impact of her summer internship.
What would you love to do in the future, for your life’s work?
“After graduating from Nazareth, I hope to go into medical school and eventually become a physician, specializing in either pediatrics or endocrinology. My summer internship experience really opened my eyes to all of the other roles healthcare plays in the lives of others, and definitely made me consider some other options for my life’s work.”
Where was your internship?
“Loretto is an elder care organization in Syracuse, New York. They have several facilities and locations around the central New York area, but my time was spent with the recreation department at the Nottingham facility. During my time with them, I shadowed a few of their many activity programs, met with residents, and interviewed leadership members from the independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, and memory aid areas of care.”
How have you benefited from these experiences?
“I think it has really opened my eyes to different populations, and expanded my interest in working in a specialty other than pediatrics, which is what I have always envisioned myself doing. It has also reminded me that everyone comes from a different, interesting background, and learning about where everyone has come from is such a positive experience.”
I think the best experience I had that really made me open my eyes to the idea of working with new populations would be some of the resident interviews I was able to conduct. In these meetings, I was able to hear so many stories, receive so much advice, and really just have positive interactions that shifted and enhanced my perspective.
For example, I got to have conversations with a resident named Richard, who spent the majority of his adult life working in academia, as a researcher and professor. He told me a lot of stories about his successes and failures in the lab, and generally gave me faith about my ability to become a physician.”
Any favorite stories from your experience?
“One of my favorite stories from my time with Loretto is kind of silly, but it really reaffirmed my connection with the residents. I was walking from my office in the independent living facility to a meeting in the memory care facility, which took me past the assisted living facility. Some of the residents were sitting outside, including people I had the pleasure of working with a few days prior. I didn’t spend much time with them one on one, but I had sat in on a few of their activities, and as I walked past, they all waved, shouted their good mornings, and wished me luck with the rest of my day.
Also, I shadowed a class for assisted living residents. While we were waiting for the activity to start, I got to chat with a resident for a while, and listen to his story. He told me all about his family history, about how they were one of the first to migrate to America from Europe. He showed me his family crest, and pictures of the home that had been in the family for generations. It was really great to listen to, and formed a deeper appreciation for such history.”
What difference did your Naz SPARK grant make?
“My internship was an unpaid opportunity, and I wasn’t able to work another job while I was with them, so the SPARK grant made it possible for me to focus all of my attention on Loretto. It would have been really stressful to go those 6 weeks without any income, but the money from Nazareth certainly let me relax.
The SPARK grant covered necessary living expenses such as gas and groceries.”
Anything else that would be good to know about your internship experiences?
“Towards the end of my internship, I was also able to start working as a patient care technician for a local hospital, and doing both of those things at once was a truly empowering and eye-opening experience that allowed me to see so many different sides of healthcare, as well as how the work we do impacts others.”
What impact would you like to have on the world, or your slice of it?
“I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the dehumanization of healthcare. The field that is meant to take care of our population has really been turned into a business, and turned upside down in the times we live in, so by becoming a physician, I hope to approach everything with compassion, respect, and honesty, and improve the areas in which I get to practice.
“In my work as a patient care technician, I have seen a few unfortunate incidents where other care team members might have been having a bad day, and may not have treated the patient as the human they were, but rather a task to complete.”
Isabella Heath ‘24, is a biology major with minors in pre-med, clinical lab sciences, and sociology.