Amanda Delgado (19C), is a current first-year medical student at Medical College of Georgia. She graduated from Emory with majors in Biology and Music, and was a former Pre-Health Peer Mentor.
We had a chance to sit down with Amanda and ask her a few questions about her pre-health journey.
1.What is the best advice you could give someone pursuing the same
track as you?
I would encourage anyone else on the pre-med track to not lose sight of what they are passionate about. The best way to do this is by continuing to make time for what and who is most important to you. For example, I have continued to play piano in medical school and talk to my family on the phone each night.
2 What was the most difficult part of your pre-health career?
The
biggest challenge I faced during my pre-med journey was balancing school life
and personal life. While my ambition pushed me to study hard and dedicate
myself to my extracurricular activities, it was also hard to battle when it
came to making time for self-care. For me, learning to say "no" and
create time for myself each day was a big hurdle to overcome.
3.
What moments have solidified your path to pursue medicine?
For me, patient
interaction has been key to solidifying my path in medicine. As an
undergraduate, it peaked my initial interest in medicine and in medical school,
it continues to drive my studies. While the hours dedicated to studying may be
dense at times, I draw motivation from my most recent volunteer or clinical
experience to keep me going.
4. What have you learned
since entering medical school?
Since entering medical school, I have been
surprised by the strong connection between teaching and medicine. I have been
fortunate to have some excellent mentors since starting medical school, and I
have actually found a passion for teaching and leadership that I hope to one
day apply to academic medicine.