The field of medicine is a vast industry, full of a variety of exciting careers! Careers in Medicine SP.252 will help you explore your interests in the medical field and learn about the many career paths available!
About the course
Careers in Medicine SP.252 is a first-year discovery subject offered each fall semester designed for first-year students considering careers as Physicians (MD), Physician-Scientists (MD-PhD), Researchers (PhD), Biostaticians, Biomedical Engineers, and more, or those interested in working in Public Health, Healthcare Administration/Business, and other health related fields. Students enrolled will also learn about the different majors and opportunities that can assist them in exploring these career paths. Through a variety of career exploration activities, alumni & faculty guest speakers, and visits to campus labs, students enrolled will be better suited to determine the career in medicine that best aligns with their interests, skills, values, and future goals.
“First-year students discover medical careers in Prehealth Advising-led SP.252” offers an overview of Careers in Medicine SP.252 from fall 2022, the students’ experience in the class, and the alumni and faculty guest speakers that participated.
This Fall 2024 semester, Careers in Medicine will be held on Thursdays from 2:00 – 3:30 pm in Building 1, Room 150 (1-150). Email course instructor, Akunna Rosser, at arosser@mit.edu with any questions about the course.
Fall 2024 Class Schedule, Site Visits, and Guest Speakers
September 5 – Introduction to Prehealth Advising and Career Advising & Professional Development (CAPD) led by Akunna Rosser and Kendel Jester, CAPD’s Assistant Director for First Year Engagement. Students will also explore and identify their values by completing the Career Values Card Sort activity.
September 13 – MIT Student Panel on ‘How I Chose my Major’ | Panelists will include current prehealth and non-prehealth students pursuing careers in medicine including MD, PhD, MEng, jobs in industry, and more.
Victory Yinka-Banjo
- Senior ’25
- Major: Computer Science & Molecular Biology (6-7)
- Career Path: PhD, Computational Biology
Katelyn Howard
- Junior, ‘26
- Major: Chemistry and Biology (5-7)
- Career Path: Physician, MD
Ayantu Tamene
- Junior, ‘26
- Major: BS, Computer Science & Molecular Biology (6-7)
- Career Path: Physician Scientist, MD-PhD
September 19 – Suturing Principles & Techniques in Surgery with Veterinarian Erica Long, DVM | Along with being CAPD’s Prehealth & Career Advisor, Erica Long also received her DVM from Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. She has four plus years of experience working as a clinical veterinarian. t n
September 26 – Site Visit to Prof. Kristin Knouse, MD-PhD, and her lab in the Koch Institute (Bldg 76-561) | Kristin Knouse received a BS in biology from Duke University and then enrolled in the Harvard & MIT MD-PhD program, where she earned a PhD through the MIT Department of Biology and an MD through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). The Knouse Laboratory aims to understand and modulate regenerative capacity with the goal of developing novel treatments for diverse diseases.
October 3 – Site Visit to the Broad Institute | This class offers a tour the Broad’s Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) and a panel discussion including an MD, PhD, and MD-PhD all working at the Broad.
The 2023 Careers in Medicine class visiting the Broad’s Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT).
October 17 – Olawale Salaudeen, PhD; Postdoctoral Associate in MIT’s Healthy ML Group | Olawale is a Postdoctoral Associate with a broad interest in reliable and trustworthy machine learning. His research goal is to improve the robustness of machine learning models for real-world decision-making. Olawale is interested diverse applications, including neuroscience and neuroimaging, healthcare, and algorithmic fairness, and aims to develop the principles and practices of robust generalization, adaptation, and evaluation in machine learning. Prior to his postdoc, Olawale earned a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Stanford Trustworthy AI Research (STAIR) Lab at Stanford University.
October 24 – Dr. Giovanni Traverso, MD-PhD, MechE Department & Gastroenterologist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital | Giovanni Traverso is the Director of the Laboratory for Translational Engineering (www.l4te.org), Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the MIT, and a gastroenterologist in the Division of Gastroenterology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). His current research is focused on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to enable safe and efficient delivery of therapeutics, biomedical device to support new modes of drug administration and sensing a broad array of physiologic and pathophysiologic signals.
October 31 – Susanne Zimmermann, MD; Orthopedist at MIT Health | Dr. Zimmermann attended MIT for undergrad majoring in Course 7 and attended the Brown-Dartmouth Program in Medicine specializing in orthopedic surgery. Zimmermann has been at MIT Health since 2018. Her clinical interests include bone health, osteoporosis care, and pediatric orthopedics. “I love taking care of children,” she says, “whether treating injuries, genetic conditions, or developmental disorders.”
November 7 – Dr. Braden Kuo, MD, MSc, at Mass General Hospital & Associate Professor at HMS | Braden Kuo, MD, MSc is a neurogastroenterologist and the director of the Center for Neurointestinal Health at Mass General. He is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kuo specializes in disorders of gastrointestinal motility and neurogastroenterology and clinical practice is devoted to treating patients with gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders and disorders of brain-gut interaction. Dr. Kuo’s research interests include clinical and physiologic research in neurogastroenterology and motility with a particular interest in chronic nausea, gastroparesis, and the physiologic characterization of GI motility.
November 14 – Prof. Bryan Bryson ’11, PhD, Biological Engineering Department | Prof. Bryson is the Phillip & Susan Ragon Career Development Professor in the Biological Engineering Department and obtained his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering (MechE) and a PhD in Biological Engineering at MIT. Prof. Bryson’s research focuses on developing new tools to dissect the complex dynamics of bacterial infection at a variety of scales ranging from single cells to infected animals sitting in both “reference frames” by taking both an immunologist’s and a microbiologist’s perspective.
November 21 – CliftonStrengths assessment with Erik Pavesic, CAPD’s Assistant Director for Career Advising & Training | The CliftonStrengths assessment will help students identify their unique strengths & talents and learn how to leverage them throughout their medical career journey.
December 5th – Final Class & End of Semester Reflection
Past class schedules and guest speakers
Sept. 6 – Introduction to Prehealth Advising & Career Advising & Professional Development (CAPD) led Akunna Rosser, SP.252 lead instructor, and Ariel Ackermann, CAPD’s Asst. Director for First Year Engagement, and students’ engaging in the Career Values Card Sort activity
Sept. 13 – Student Panel on ‘How I Chose my Major’ | Panelists will include current prehealth and non-prehealth students pursuing careers in medicine (MD, MD-PhD, PhD, MPH, etc.)
Caroline Bao ’24, MEng ‘25
- Expected to graduate June 2023, MEng 2024
- Major: Computer Science & Molecular Biology
- Applied to medical school in 2023, matriculating in 2024
Melody Guo ‘24
- Senior, ‘24
- Major: Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- Course 9 inspired her to apply to medical school
- Applied to medical school in 2023, matriculating in 2024
Mulan Jiang ‘24
- Senior, ‘24
- Major: Mechanical Engineering
- Applied to medical school in 2023, matriculating in 2024
Sept. 20 – Opportunities at MIT to Acquire Clinical Experience | Guest Speakers include Vippy Yee, Assistant Dean at the Priscilla King Gray (PKG) Public Service Center, Akunna Rosser, Senior Assistant Director at Prehealth Advising, and more….
Sept. 27 – Prof. Kristin Knouse, MD-PhD, Biology Department | This class will be a site visit to the Koch Institute and Prof. Knouse’s Lab
Prof. Kristin Knouse, MD-PhD, Biology Department
Prof. Knouse received her MD-PhD from the combined Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. Her research involves studying liver regeneration.
Oct. 4 – Tour of MIT’s Center for Clinical & Translational Research
Oct. 11 – Suturing Principles & Techniques in Animal Surgery with Veterinarian Erica Long
Oct. 18 – Dr. Giovanni Traverso, MD-PhD, MechE Department & Gastroenterologist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Oct. 25 – Dr. Jonathan Spector, MD/MPH, Novartis
Jonathan Spector, MD/MPH, Head Global Health Strategy at Novartis
Dr. Spector attended New York Medical College for medical school. He later pursued a Masters in Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Spector’s practice has involved traveling globally to South America, South Africa, Israel, Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia and Asia.
Nov. 1 – Ethics in the Pharmaceutical Industry: A discussion led by MIT alum, Guadalupe Hayes-Mota ’08, BS, MS, MBA
Nov. 8 – Dr. Marilyn Liang ’90, MD at Boston Children’s Hospital & Associate Professor in Dermatology at HMS
Marilyn Liang, MD, Associate Prof. in Dermatology at HMS, Boston Children’s Hospital
Dr. Liang attended MIT as an undergrad majoring in Course 7 (Biology) and the University of Rochester for medical school where she specialized in dermatology. Dr. Liang currently works at Boston Children’s Hospital as the co-director in the Vascular Anomalies Center (VAC). Her work involves using laser surgery techniques to remove birthmarks, acne, tumors, and other skin anomalies.
Nov. 15 – Broad Institute Site Visit: Tour of The Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) and Panel including a MD, PhD, and MD-PhD
Dec. 6: Reflecting on the First-Year and Exploring Paths to Success | The Clifton Stre
In Careers in Medicine SP.252, students will have the opportunity to explore careers in medicine and health care through hearing MIT alumni and partners discuss their educational path and career journey. The guest speakers represent a diverse array of majors and careers, including physicians, physician-scientists, research scientists, biomedical engineers, bioinformatics analysts, occupational therapists, health system managers, and health economists. Through hearing MIT alumni and partners discuss their educational and career path, students can begin exploring their interests and values and see how they can have an impact on patients, both directly and indirectly, all while advancing the field of medicine and healthcare.
Careers in Medicine SP.252 can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students.
Class schedule and guest speakers
| 9/8 | Introduction to Prehealth Advising and Course Overview: Career Values Card Sorts activity |
| 9/15 | Student Panel: MIT students’ discuss ‘How I Chose My Major?’ A panel of current undergraduates from Courses 6, 7, 9, 20 and more will discuss the factors that helped them choose their major. Panelists are considering medical school, graduate school, and working in industry. |
| 9/22 | Tour of Center for Clinical & Translational Research | https://www.crc.mit.edu/ Catherine Ricciardi – DNP, ANP-BC BSN, Worcester State UnivDNP, MGH Institute of Health Professions The CCTR is MIT’s one-stop shop for conducting human research, serving as a state-of-the-art facility equipped with an extensive array of clinical and technical equipment to meet MIT’s translation and human research needs. Professionals in the CCTR include MD, NP, RN, Research Scientists, and technical support. |
| 9/29 | Dr. Shawn Ferullo, MD BS, Psychology – Boston UniversityMD, Boston University SOM MIT’s Chief of Sports Medicine & Orthopedics and the Chief of Student Health. Dr. Ferullo is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in Boston Univ’s Dept of Family Medicine. Bio – https://medical.mit.edu/find-a-provider/shawn-m-ferullo |
| 10/6 | Dr. Sophie Chung, MD · BS, Biology, Spanish Minor, ’14 MIT; MD, Yale SOM A general surgery resident at UC San Diego and currently conducting research at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Chung is interested in surgical oncology, trauma, and data-driven surgical outcomes research. Bio – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-chung-md-a71b352a/ |
| 10/13 | Identifying Strengths & First Year Planning Using your CliftonStrengths Assessment to identify and develop your many talents and strengths during your first-year. The class will explore the results of your CliftonStrengths Assessment to better understand where you currently are and where you would like to be. |
| 10/20 | Gaudalupe Hayes-Mota ‘08, MS, MBA · BS, Chemistry – MIT A healthcare and biotech leader, with a specific focus on helping biopharmaceuticals, hospitals, clinics, government, and non-profits innovate to expand medical treatment to patients globally. Bio – https://www.guadalupehayesmota.com/ |
| 10/27 | Angela Koehler, PhD BA, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Reed CollegePhD, Harvard As an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, Dr. Koehler’s lab focuses on building chemical tools and methods for studying temporal aspects of transcriptional regulation in development and disease with a focus on cancer. Dr. Koehler is also a member of the Committee on PreHealth Advising at MIT (COPA). Bio – http://koehlerlab.org/teamkoehler |
| 11/3 | Briana Stephenson, PhD | BS, Mathematics – MIT MPH, Biostatistics – George Washington Univ.PhD, Biostatistics – UNC Chapel Hill An Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Stephenson’s research focuses on using biostatics methods to create innovative models that address data complexities found in maternal health, nutritional epidemiology, psychological health, health disparities, etc. Bio – https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/profile/briana-joy-k-stephenson/ |
| 11/10 | Dr. Sharmin Ghaznavi, Psychiatry MGH · BS, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Biology, and Philosophy – MIT · MD-PhD – Yale SOM The Associate Director & Director of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at MGH. Dr. Ghaznavi also serves as a psychiatrist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. Bio – https://researchers.mgh.harvard.edu/profile/1845795/Sharmin-Ghaznavi |
| 11/17 | Mariana Arcaya, PhD; MIT Faculty A.B., Environmental Science and Policy – Duke Univ.PhD, Harvard An Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Public Health in MIT’s DUSP. Dr. Arcaya is a social epidemiologist and urban planner whose work explores how health shapes socioeconomic outcomes and health risk factors shape urban planning & policy. Bio – https://dusp.mit.edu/people/mariana-arcaya |
| 12/1 | Dr. Giovanni Traverso, MD BA, Medical Sciences and Genetics; MB, Medicine – Cambridge Univ.PhD, Early Detection of Colon Cancer – Johns Hopkins An Assistant Professor in MechE at MIT. Also, an Assistant Professor of Medicine and associate physician in the Division of Gastroenterology at Brigham Women’s Hospital. Prof. Traverso’s research interests include biomedical device development, ingestible & implantable robotics, and drug delivery for optimal drug adherence. Bio – https://engineering.mit.edu/faculty/giovanni-traverso/ |
In Careers in MedicineSP.252, students will have the opportunity to explore careers in medicine and health care through hearing MIT alumni and partners discuss their educational path and career journey. The guest speakers represent a diverse array of majors and careers, including physicians, physician-scientists, research scientists, biomedical engineers, bioinformatics analysts, occupational therapists, health system managers, and health economists. Through hearing MIT alumni and partners discuss their educational and career path, students can begin exploring their interests and values and see how they can have an impact on patients, both directly and indirectly, all while advancing the field of medicine and healthcare.
Careers in Medicine SP.252 can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students.
Class schedule and guest speakers
| 9/9 | Introduction to Prehealth Advising and Course Overview: Career Values Card Sorts activity |
| 9/16 | Student Panel: Current MIT students pursuing careers in medicine & healthcare Career paths: MD, PhD, MS, Public Health |
| 9/23 | Gaudalupe Hayes-Mota ‘08, MS, MBA | BS, Chemistry A healthcare and biotech leader, with a specific focus on helping biopharmaceuticals, hospitals, clinics, government, and non-profits |
| 9/30 | Dr. Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, MBA | BA, Biochemical Sciences President of Health Platforms at Verily Life Sciences and a passionate champion of improving health in the US and worldwide. |
| 10/7 | Dr. Jacqueline Greene ‘07, MD BS, Materials Engineering A facial plastic & reconstructive surgery fellow at Mass Eye & Ear. Dr. Greene received her MD from UCSD. |
| 10/14 | Dr. David Rapoport ’70, MD | SB, Physics Director of Research in Integrative Sleep Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sai |
| 10/21 | Afua Banful ’03, PhD Economics | BS, Materials Science & Engineering & Economics A nationally-known expert in growth strategies for hospitals and health systems and serves as the founder of Sound Health Advisory LLC. |
| 10/28 | Dr. Cecilia Stuopis ‘90, MD | BS, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering The Medical Director at MIT where she is responsible for the medical & mental health services at institute. |
| 11/4 | Dr. Shipli Epstein ’94, MD BS, Chemical Engineering with Biology minor Dr. Epstein is a pediatric cardiologist and is currently the Medical Director at Rocket Pharmaceuticals, an organization developing best-in-class curative gene therapies for rare childhood disorders. |
| 11/18 | Angela Koehler PhD | https://be.mit.edu/directory/angela-koehler BA, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology As an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, Dr. Koehler’s lab focuses on building chemical tools and methods for studying temporal aspects of transcriptional regulation in development and disease with a focus on cancer. Dr. Koehler is also a member of the Committee on PreHealth Advising at MIT (COPA) |
| 12/2 | Kristin Nuckols OTD and Richard Nuckols PhD, Hand Recovery from the Comfort of Home | Kristin holds a Masters of OT from James Madison Univ and a Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) from Boston University. Kristin is the Co-Founder & Clinical Programming Lead at Imago Rehab, a medical device company enabling superior recovery stroke survivors through home- use wearable robotics and digital health. Richard holds a BS, Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering from UNC Chapel Hill/NC State. Richard uses his background in engineering, biomechanics, and clinical understanding to develop assistive technologies and wearable robotics for clinical gait rehabilitation. |
