GSAHEC REACH Member is Harvard Bound

By Sydney Alison Kraemer

2008 Port Charlotte High School graduate

I have envisioned a career in medicine ever since I first sat in the dentist’s chair at age three. I was intrigued with becoming a dentist and making people smile. While my medical field preference has changed from dentist to psychiatrist to, currently, oncologist or orthopedic surgeon, I maintain a sincere passion for pursuing a medical career.

Throughout high school, I have gained hands-on understanding of medical professions through REACH – Recruitment & Educational Assistance for Careers in Health – under Gulfcoast South Area Health Education Center (GSAHEC). REACH honored me with two once-in-a-lifetime experiences: the USF AHEC Health Professions Summer Academy at the University of South Florida and a 90-hour paid internship with the Charlotte County Health Department.

At the Health Academy from June 4-17, 2006, I was among a selected group of 25 rising juniors who received full scholarships to the program. We partook in an agenda of college and career preparation and visited medical centers in the Tampa, FL area.

Every facility we explored, including Tampa General and Shriners Children’s Hospitals, compelled my attention; yet, I found the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center most stimulating. In the pathology lab, we snapped on gloves and felt cancer cells in a lung, kidney, prostate, breast, and male’s nose and lip. This opportunity to touch the firm, cancerous growths that cause so much pain and death was remarkable. In fact, the encounter fostered my interest in oncology.

The AHEC Health Academy helped me realize the crucial need for health professionals in underserved communities. Also, the ethnic diversity of my fellow students helped me realize the necessity for such diversity in medical professionals. In college and beyond, I will uphold the value of appreciating a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

My next experience through REACH was the Health Department internship in the summer of 2007. In the clinic and in Environmental Health, I shadowed nurses, Health Support Technicians, Environmental Specialists, and other employees. I gained most hands-on medical experience in the clinic. The nurses allowed me to complete vision and hearing exams, blood pressure tests, and measurements for physicals. Alternatively, in Environmental Health, I observed inspections of septic systems, wells, childcare facilities, and gas stations.

Ultimately, I admired the Health Department’s dedication to preserving public health, and I developed an appreciation for the versatility of health careers. In college, I will endeavor to find a career that appeals to my personal strengths of affability, creativity, and resolve.

Thus, throughout my three years in REACH, I have gained valuable experiences that have enriched my path towards a medical occupation. I am very excited about fulfilling a life-long dream by attending Harvard College in the fall. In my acceptance letter, I learned that 27,000 worldwide applied for the Harvard Class of 2012. I am thrilled to be one of the few 2,025 to be accepted. I plan to major in Biochemistry and pursue Pre-Medicine. My ultimate goal is to become a physician or surgeon in pediatric orthopedics or oncology.

Harvard will prove to be a challenging but a highly valuable experience. At Harvard, I hope to engage in experiences similar to those of REACH that indulge my social skills, passion for knowledge, and desire to positively impact the health of others. Thank you, GSAHEC, for the beneficial medical opportunities you have given me through the REACH program!