A Holistic Approach to Health: How One Student Found Her Passion at LAS
Interview with Samantha Bravo Heading link
Name: Samantha Bravo
Major: Integrated Health Studies – Concentration in Behavioral Health
Minor: Public Health and Nutrition
Year in school: Senior
How did you choose your major/minor?
I love my major of Integrated Health Studies! I think it’s a very interdisciplinary curriculum that allows me to learn health topics from my hard core science classes such as genetics while also incorporating knowledge of health in society with courses such as abnormal psychology and public health. My major allows for me to obtain a holistic perspective of health and throughout my four years of undergrad, has allowed me to have a broad understanding of human health and function both anatomically and in society. I chose my major not only for its diverse and appealing curriculum but also for the fact that I joined UIC as an undergraduate student with a goal of Pre-Physician Assistant. This major allowed for me to not only complete my undergraduate degree but also complete my pre-PA prerequisite courses while doing so.
Apart from studying Integrated Health Studies, I am also studying Public Health and Nutrition as two of my minors. I took my first Public Health course as a requirement for the Applied Health course content of my major and I really enjoyed learning about health disparities, especially coming from a hispanic background and learning more about health prevention. I am now very passionate about reducing health disparities and volunteer as a Medical Interpreter at Community Health, Patient Greeter for the Mobile Migrant Health Team, Medical Assistant for a predominantly hispanic and spanish speaking population as well as conduct research with Dr. Lofton in a Food is Medicine Project for African American patients with Hypertension at UIC’s College of Nursing. My decision to minor in Nutrition arose from my work as a Medical Assistant and realizing that many patients asked their provider for advice on lifestyle and diet changes due to this population having a higher rate of hyperglycemia and Diabetes Type 2. Many patients decide to try to incorporate these changes before taking medication for their diseases. I believe my LAS education has allowed me to gain the knowledge to be a culturally sensitive and well rounded health care worker taking into consideration health disparities amongst populations, sociocultural factors in food as well as the multiple science and psychology courses I had to take for my major concentration in behavioral health.
As a first-generation college student, are there any support systems at UIC that you have found useful?
As a first generation college student, finding support systems on campus was very important for my academic and professional development as a student. Some support systems that really helped me in my undergraduate years were Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services (LARES), Latin@s Gaining Access to Networks for Advancement in Science (L@S GANAS), Mujeres En Medicina and starting my own Latin dance club, Sabor Latino, at UIC.
If you could give yourself one piece of advice during your freshman year, what would it be?
I would tell my freshman year self to stay on campus longer and go to the Math and Science Learning Center (MSLC) for tutoring and to meet people to study and ask questions with early on in their undergraduate years. I would also advise my freshman year self to talk to professors about not only course content but also career goals and academic interests.
With graduation on the horizon, what are your aspirations after college?
Some of my aspirations after college include attending Physician Assistant school, gaining more patient care experiences in different medical specialties and aiding in public health prevention endeavors. I will also take with me my experience as a medical outreach volunteer for VAW at UIC in Panama and hope to travel more and explore new cultures and cuisines after college.