How Co-Curriculum Inspired a Student to Pursue Medicine

June 15th 2021

The field of medicine always intrigued Lani Galloway, so much so that she shadowed a pediatric surgeon prior to her senior year at Madeira. This experience inspired her to complete her senior Co-Curriculum internship in the medical field to confirm her belief that she would pursue it as a career path. Lani interned with a physician at INOVA Fairfax Hospital in a demanding internship (she would leave Madeira at 6:30 a.m. not to return until just before dinner). The challenging nature of the job did not dissuade Lani, but rather solidified her confidence that medicine was the right fit for her.

"It pushed me to feel confident that I wanted to complete the rigorous pre-med requirements in college and pursue a career in medicine," Lani noted.

Co-Curriculum did more than convince Lani that pre-med was the correct track for her; it gave her valuable real-world experience, which many of her peers did not have.

"The entire pre-med path in college was very difficult. Having the Co-Curriculum hands-on experience to know what my life was going to be like if I chose this path was invaluable. When the work got difficult, I was prepared because I saw what my life was going to be and knew how much work it was going to take to get there," Lani noted. "My internship gave me context for everything I was doing. Some of the courses can often feel irrelevant at the time, but because I already had real-world exposure, I saw firsthand how those courses were applied - I understood why I was taking them. 25% of students at the University of Virginia start on the pre-med track. Far fewer end up going to medical school. Knowing what I was trying to achieve helped push me to be in the small percentage who go on to med school."

Lani has completed undergraduate and medical school and is off to her residency at Vanderbilt. Lani notes that Co-Curriculum has also shaped her speciality interest in neurologic oncology.

"I am very interested in neurologic oncology. I was first exposed to this field in Co-Curriculum and credit Co-Curriculum for shaping my interest in surgical oncology and neurologic oncology."

Beyond exposure to the medical field, Lani credits Co-Curriculum with giving her professional workplace skills as well.

"The program taught me how to behave in the operating room and how to network. These skills allowed me to cold call surgeons to ask if I could shadow them in their operating rooms," Lani shared. "At first, they were hesitant - but when they found out I already had workplace exposure due to Co-Curriculum, they were more receptive. I was able to advocate for myself."