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Cast of The York School Play, Matilda
Visiting alumni encourage the next generation of health-care professionals
During the Health Sciences Roadmap event on February 25, six alumni generously shared their experience and advice with Grade 10, 11 and 12 students who are curious about careers in health care.
The students benefitted from the wisdom of Dr. Julia Sharp ‘03 (a pediatrician at North York General Hospital), Dr. Daniela Keren ‘11 (an academic family physician at Sinai Health and assistant professor at the University of Toronto), Jamal Virani ‘11 (a nurse practitioner who provides primary mental health care at the clinic he founded), Dr. Kathleen Bowman ‘14 (a veterinarian at Leaside Animal Clinic), Aliya Nowaczynski ‘14 (a social worker at Sinai Health), and Jordan Hausman ‘21 (a first-year MD candidate at the University of Toronto.)
Our visiting experts talked about the insights that can be gained through volunteer work, the importance of thoroughly researching undergraduate programs, and the fact that high school is the ideal time to explore a variety of passions and interests.
A number of the alums told the students that the path to a health-care career is not always linear. “You could pursue visual arts or journalism or something else that interests you, and then decide that you want to be a physician or work in health care in another way. I had tons of peers in medical school with those kinds of stories and they are likely better at their jobs because of those experiences,” said Dr. Keren.
Aliya Nowaczynski reflected on the unexpected and positive ways that her York School education helped shape her social work career. She explained that acting in school plays “was my first experience of starting to really tap into what it means to empathize with another person. I was exploring human emotion, but in a creative way.” She also remembers that being a student mentor gave her an opportunity to connect with another person in a meaningful way.
Our visiting experts talked about the insights that can be gained through volunteer work, the importance of thoroughly researching undergraduate programs, and the fact that high school is the ideal time to explore a variety of passions and interests.
A number of the alums told the students that the path to a health-care career is not always linear. “You could pursue visual arts or journalism or something else that interests you, and then decide that you want to be a physician or work in health care in another way. I had tons of peers in medical school with those kinds of stories and they are likely better at their jobs because of those experiences,” said Dr. Keren.
Aliya Nowaczynski reflected on the unexpected and positive ways that her York School education helped shape her social work career. She explained that acting in school plays “was my first experience of starting to really tap into what it means to empathize with another person. I was exploring human emotion, but in a creative way.” She also remembers that being a student mentor gave her an opportunity to connect with another person in a meaningful way.
Dr. Sharp encouraged the students to learn about the wide variety of allied health-care professions. “I work in the hospital with respiratory therapists, pharmacists and occupational therapists, and they all have amazing expertise,” she said.
The students were delighted to learn that Dr. Sharp’s two children are students at our Junior School.
The Health Sciences Roadmap was co-organized by The York School’s University Counselling department and Alumni Association. We’re very grateful to Julia, Daniela, Jamal, Kathleen, Aliya and Jordan for taking time out of their busy schedules to encourage and support the next generation of health-care professionals.
Pictured: Photo #1 - Visiting health-care professionals from left to right: Dr. Julia Sharp '03, Dr. Daniela Keren '11, Dr. Kathleen Bowman '14, Jamal Virani '11 and Jordan Hausman '21. Photo #2 - Director of University Counselling Sarah Bauld (left) with Aliya Nowaczynski ‘14. Photo #3 - Jordan Hausman '21 (second from left) makes a point during the panel discussion. Photo #4 - Jamal Virani ‘11 tells Senior School students about his work as a nurse practitioner.
