Meet Meghal, NHC Chicago member serving as a Health Educator!
Posted on: December 5, 2019Chicago
Hi everyone! My name is Meghal and I am serving as a Health Educator at the school-based Erie Health Center at Amundsen High School! I grew up in Camas, WA, a suburb of Portland, OR, but ditched my West Coast roots and decided to go to college in the Midwest.
I recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, where I majored in Anthropology and minored in Biology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. During my time at WashU I was able to pursue personal hobbies, like dance, while also starting to actualize my career goals and interests through a civic engagement fellowship program I was a part of. I would say that my science and liberal arts background, along with my involvement at WashU, have played a large role in informing how I want to practice medicine and navigate a career in medicine. After my service year, I plan on applying to medical school with the hopes of becoming a physician serving patients from underserved communities, particularly womxn who are survivors of domestic violence.
To me, this service term is an opportunity to step away from textbooks and academia and gain a community-centered experience within healthcare. We are often taught about social determinants of health from a classroom standpoint, but to actually serve with communities impacted by misinformed policy, institutionalized racism, and various other detriments to health and well-being is the kind of education missing in the classroom. I am looking forward to living in Chicago, learning from various individuals from different backgrounds, and serving with the high school community to empower students to take charge of their health.
This blog post was written by NHC Chicago 2019-20 member Meghal Sheth.
