Pathways to Healthcare (That Don’t Require Med School)

Are you on the pre-med track but looking to learn more about other careers in healthcare? Do you want to work in healthcare but not attend med school? If yes, this is the video for you!

Each semester, the Center for Career Development hosts an event entitled Pathways to Healthcare that features a number of alumni and employer panelists who work in the field of healthcare and have not attended medical school. The purpose of this program is to spread awareness of meaningful, engaging careers in the field of healthcare that do not require a medical school education. This spring, the live-stream of the event was recorded and is now available for viewing on YouTube below.

The Spring 2020 Pathways to Healthcare event featured four panelists who shared their experiences in the field. Read a bit more about each of them below:

Maggie Balogh, M.S. Surgical Neurophysiology Student at UConn
Currently a graduate student in UConn’s Surgical Neurophysiology Master’s Program, Maggie has a number of years of clinical and research experience. Maggie is currently a practicum student at St. Francis Hospital, where she is learning the ins and outs of intraoperative neuromonitoring alongside operating room staff and neurologists. During her undergraduate studies, Maggie volunteered at Johnson Memorial Hospital as a patient advocate and was a client supervisor at Perception House, an addiction treatment facility. Maggie also participated in multiple health-related initiatives internationally, including an alternative break trip to the Dominican Republic and a summer abroad in Spain. After graduating with a double major in Psychological Sciences and Physiology and Neurobiology, Maggie became a Lab Manager at the Murine Behavioral Neurogenetics Facility, where she collaborated with various labs at UConn to select, carry out, and analyze a battery of behavioral tasks on genetic mouse models for one year before starting her graduate studies.

Stephanie Luczak (LMSW), Help Me Grow National Center Program Coordinator at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
Stephanie graduated from UConn with her Bachelor’s in Political Science and Communications in 2014 and enrolled in the UConn Master’s in Social Work (MSW) program with a concentration in Policy and Practice shortly after. Her interest in children’s advocacy through a social work perspective guided her experiences working as an MSW Policy Intern and Direct Support Professional in the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services. Additionally, Stephanie held a position as a Research Assistant at DataHaven before collaborating with the Connecticut Voices for Children as a Policy Fellow and Intern. Currently, she promotes the healthy development of young children and the well-being of low-income youth of color as a Program Coordinator of the Help Me Grow National Center at Connecticut Children’s.

Heather McHugh (MSOL), Talent Acquisition Sourcing Specialist at Hartford Healthcare
Heather is currently working as a Talent Acquisition Sourcing Specialist for Hartford Healthcare, a large, integrated healthcare network with over 25,000 employees in hospitals, behavioral health and rehabilitation services, medical group services, skilled nursing and home health services, and a range of services for seniors. Heather is specifically responsible for filling openings in the Community Network across Connecticut, focusing on hard-to-fill openings. In previous years, Heather has held a variety of human resources and operations positions including as a Talent Acquisition Specialist for TRADEBE, dealing with employee relations, maintaining recruiting efforts, and managing internship programs. Heather graduated from Albertus Magnus College with degrees in Marketing and Human Resources Management and also holds a Master’s in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University.

Mallory Mourmouras, M.S. Surgical Neurophysiology Student at UConn
Currently, Mallory is a graduate student at UConn pursuing her Master’s of Science in Surgical Neurophysiology, a degree that has introduced her to in-depth neuroanatomy and neurophysiology and is preparing her to sit for the CNIM certification. During her undergraduate career, Mallory studied Physiology and Neurobiology and was an Undergraduate Research Assistant in a behavioral neuroscience laboratory, where she worked with human subjects through spatial memory tasks. She also was involved with the Husky Ambassador Program and Pi Beta Phi as well as worked as a Teaching Assistant in an Enhanced Human Physiology and Anatomy course, responsible for leading group work sessions. She has a variety of other experiences as a substitute teacher and in the foodservice industry as well.

If you have any questions about the content in this video or would like to talk to someone about your own career in the field of healthcare, we encourage you to schedule an appointment with a career coach.

By Lisa Famularo
Lisa Famularo Assistant Director, Equity and Inclusion | Pronouns: she/her/hers