Alia Michaelis is working in several Wichita-area hospital emergency rooms to record patient-physician interactions. This applied-learning opportunity is helping prepare her for a career in medicine.

More than 5,000 Shockers each year take what they’ve learned in the classroom and transfer that knowledge into real-world environments. Applied learning — which is required for every Wichita State student — happens in offices, factories, laboratories, nonprofits, industries and companies across the globe. Students work side-by-side with seasoned professionals to ensure that they’re fully prepared to make meaningful contributions to their employers and their communities when they graduate.

Andover, Kansas

Biochemistry with minors in public health and Spanish

Junior

I am an emergency medical scribe at the major Ascension hospitals in the area, including Saint Francis, Saint Joseph and Saint Teresa; and I am employed by Vituity. My job consists of working closely with emergency physicians and midlevel providers by documenting all patient-physician interactions in the emergency department. 

I have been employed by Vituity for around one year, and I plan to continue working for them until I get accepted into medical school.

I had a few older pre-medical classmates who had worked for Vituity in the past, and they told me what a great learning experience it was when I was looking for a paid clinical-experience opportunity. 

The amount of on-the-job learning that I am doing is incredible, as I can learn from the doctors with whom I work and who love to teach everything and anything about medicine. For medical school applications, clinical experience is a requirement, and I definitely feel as though I am getting great clinical experience in my current position.

My biology classes at WSU serve as the launching point for how the entire body works and how this impacts the medical care that is provided to the patients we see. The pre-medical advising and Pre-Medical Student Association have also been a huge help in providing guidance and direction regarding the pre-medical path, especially to people who have no familial connections to medicine, like me.

Do not be afraid to get involved with pre-professional clubs and advising even if you think you have everything figured out. You can always learn of new opportunities and make new connections from those who have come before you.