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Class of 2021- you did it! We're so proud of you and what you will do next to change the future of health!

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Graduate shares how ASU pre-health opportunities helped influence career in medicine

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Graduate shares how ASU pre-health opportunities helped influence career in medicine

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Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2021 graduates.

Bayley Brennan knew she wanted to pursue a career related to health and wellness early in life. Her mother, a physical therapist, spurred the interest early as she taught Brennan about the body's muscles. Soon her interest expanded to include the topic of nutrition.

"Especially in high school, I feel like there is a lot of societal pressure to look a certain way. My friends and I fell into that pressure. In college, I really wanted to learn about why nutrition was important and how to filter through the stuff that we see on social media versus what we should actually be doing to treat ourselves right," Brennan said.

This spring, Brennan will graduate from The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences (neurobiology, physiology, and behavior), a minor in nutrition and healthy living, and a certificate in health and wellness coaching.

Early on in her Arizona State University journey Brennan connected with resources including ASU's Pre-Health Advising and found professional opportunities to learn from, like working as a chief scribe in an emergency department.

"We work with the doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the emergency department during their whole shift. As they see their patients, we follow them and complete the documentation for the provider," she said. "It's really cool because you get an insight into the providers' medical decision-making, why they're doing certain things and also how they can balance multiple patients."

That hands-on experience helped Brennan determine what career path she would like to pursue after graduation.

"All the doctors I work with are amazing, but I noticed there isn't much of a focus on nutrition. I like the concept of integrative health and wellness coaching - using people's own abilities to help them improve with whatever they're trying to work at."

Brennan shared more about what drew her to ASU and her experience in The College.
Question: Why did you choose ASU?
Answer: I'm from Tucson and I always thought that I was just going to go to the University of Arizona, but then during the college admissions process, I looked more into ASU and Barrett, The Honors College. I always wanted to be an honor student in college because I was in high school. I thought ASU's education was already good, but then adding the honors classes and the opportunity to get to know your professors a little bit better, that's what ultimately really drew me to ASU.
Q: What's something you learned while at The College - in the classroom or otherwise - that surprised you or changed your perspective?
A: In the emergency department, we always see crazy critical cases and I never really understood the background behind those cases, until I took an animal physiology class my spring semester of my sophomore year. We learned all these different things, about the kidneys and the heart and how it ties into body function. Then when I went to work, I noticed the lab values matched up and then when we gave medications, I actually understood the mechanism of action and how it worked. It was really cool that my education could tie into what I want to do in the future and that was the first time that I actually saw it in action.
Q: Did you receive any scholarships or financial support while at ASU? If yes, how did those impact your experience?
A: I received the President's Award which is basically the reason that I got to come here. My parents are very fiscally responsible, and wanted me to go to (UArizona) and live at home to save money. I compared the costs and was able to show ASU was not that much more expensive and I could live on campus and get to grow up a little bit. So that scholarship is basically the reason that I got to come here and I'm really glad that I was able to.
Q: Were there any clubs/organizations or opportunities that positively impacted your ASU experience?
A: Alpha Epsilon Delta is the pre-health club on campus and I joined when I was a freshman. I was looking for guidance and knew since everyone was applying to some sort of pre-health program that they would be able to be there and guide me. It has been probably one of the best experiences I've had. I was president this past year, so being able to lead the club that really helped me out when I was an undergrad was a really good experience.
Q: What message or advice would you share for future first-year students?
A: Even if you want to pursue medical school or whatever your goals are, still enjoy your life. I would be nowhere if I didn't have my boyfriend to hang out with outside of class and do fun things with, or my roommates. Make sure that you make time to also care for yourself. I have my exercise routine and my personal self-care stuff.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: I got into the University of Arizona College of Medicine, which I'm going to be starting in June. I don't know what I want to do necessarily, there are so many options and I'm looking forward to getting to explore them.

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Graduate shares how ASU pre-health opportunities helped influence career in medicine

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Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2021 graduates.Bayley Brennan knew she wanted to pursue a career related to health and wellness early in life. Her mother, a physical therapist, spurred the interest early as she taught Brennan about the body's muscles.

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Computer-loving graduate programs his future to impact health care

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Computer-loving graduate programs his future to impact health care

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Up all hours, late into the night, Basam Alasaly has spent the past five years modifying apps, writing code and developing medical technology without pay, first while earning his Bachelor of Science in biomedical informatics, and then as a master's student in the same program at the College of Health Solutions.

Why spend all that time working so hard for no compensation?

"I want to explore as much as I can while I can. I might run into something that will become my future," he said.

Computers and health both figure into the future Alasaly envisions. "I want to invent something related to medicine," he said, such as a new software program, or maybe a clinical support tool that uses artificial intelligence to help health professionals make optimal medical decisions about their patients' care.

He already has a head start on his dream, having worked on such projects during his undergrad days, starting with an application called LeukApp for the nonprofit hospital system HonorHealth which involved working with professional Phoenix-area developers. Clinicians input patient test results and risk factors into LeukApp which then recommends treatment options.

Alasaly has put his skills and passion to work on many projects like LeukApp. In this past year alone, he built a web crawler that collected online COVID-19 data for a predictive modeling initiative. He also created automated mini-tutorials for fellow ASU students, developed an automated scheduling program for students in classes with clinical requirements, helped plan a workshop on an emerging informatics standard, and provided tech support for classes - all while serving as a graduate teaching assistant and working on the master's degree he will complete this spring.

One reason Alasaly had time for all this volunteering is because he earned tuition support through the New American University Scholar Provost's Award each year he was an undergraduate. As a master's student, he also received tuition support and a stipend for conducting research into blockchain, a highly secure digital ledger technology.

"A medical device manufacturer wanted to implement blockchain to track medical devices," he explained. "These devices sit on their shelves for months, and sometimes they expire." With blockchain, the manufacturer can track the devices and have sales reps proactively replenish them, thereby improving patient safety and outcomes.

After graduation, Alasaly plans to keep writing apps and code that will support care providers and their patients.

In this Q&A, Alasaly looks back at his ASU experience:
Question: Why did you choose ASU?
Answer: It was close to home and offered everything I wanted, whether I wanted to pursue medicine or computer programming.
Q: What was your "aha" moment when you realized you wanted to study biomedical informatics?
A: I wasn't sure if I wanted to go the medical route or the computer programming route. After exploring the vast list of majors at ASU, I ran across biomedical informatics, and it immediately grabbed my attention. The human body is very complicated, and there are a lot of issues we simply can't solve with our brains alone. Genomes, for instance, contain billions of characters. Analyzing that without a computer could take years.
Q: Which professor taught you the most important lessons while at ASU?
Q: What's the best piece of advice you'd give to those still in school?
Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
A: I learned many valuable lessons while at ASU, but the professor who contributed the most to my learning would most definitely be College of Health Solutions faculty member Dr. Anita Murcko. She was more than a professor and a project manager. Dr. Murcko taught me aspects of project management, software engineering documentation, how to be a professional and many other valuable lessons that I will surely benefit from in my future career.

Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: Always ask your professors what projects they're working on. You never know what you could have been a part of if you don't ask.

A: I would study electronic health records for a year and bring together a team of physicians and software engineers to construct an EHR system with a simple, intuitive user interface. Right now, these systems are hard to use. Clinicians pretty much hate them. It's an obvious area of improvement needed in health care.

A: I plan on attending Thomas Jefferson University's two-year pre-professional program. I learned the technical possibilities in health care as much as I can from ASU, and now I want to expand on medicine and biology with the ultimate goal of improving public health with technology. The program at Thomas Jefferson lets students choose to spend one or two years to complete required pre-medical school courses, along with MCAT training and health care volunteering opportunities to enhance resumés for medical school applications. I'm doing the two-year program because I'll have more time to volunteer and work on more apps.

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Computer-loving graduate programs his future to impact health care

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Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2021 graduates.Up all hours, late into the night, Basam Alasaly has spent the past five years modifying apps, writing code and developing medical technology without pay, first while earning his Bachelor of Science in biomedical informatics, and then as a master's student in the same program at the College of Health Solutions.

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Chloe Alhaig is graduating this spring with a bachelor's degree in health sciences. She studied pre-veterinary medicine and aims to become an equine vet. 🐴

Chloe shared some advice for new students: “Just stay focused, no matter what life throws your way during these four years, and never lose sight of your goals. It’s worth it in the end!”

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Serendipity and tragedy drew first-generation grad to ASU

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Serendipity and tragedy drew first-generation grad to ASU

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It was just luck of the draw that Guadalupe Segovia happened to take a sports medicine class at her Phoenix-area high school. It was luck again - the bad kind - that left one of her loved ones with a spinal cord injury. Both events influenced Segovia's career choices and led her to the bachelor's degree in exercise and wellness she earns this spring from ASU's College of Health Solutions.

Segovia was already an athletic training intern in high school when she took the sports medicine class that made her say, "This is definitely for me" - a decision that also came with the knowledge that she would be the first person in her family to ever attend college.

When her loved one became disabled, Segovia turned her attention toward helping others avoid debilitating harm. She knew that learning the various components of exercise science - muscular strength and conditioning, flexibility exercises, cardiovascular exercises as well as human anatomy and physiology - would empower her as a trainer to help athletes prevent and recover from injuries.

Her desire to help others, her love of sports medicine and her enthusiasm for the opportunities ASU offered all found a place for expression at the College of Health Solutions. As a participant in ASU's President Barack Obama Scholars Program work-study initiative, she was employed in the college's Student Success Hub, the home for student recruiting, advising and internship placements. Shanan Bouchard, the assistant manager of student success, sais Segovia was a superstar, always giving exceptional customer service at the front desk and willing to be the first to jump in and get the job done.

"Her enthusiasm for the college and for the opportunities presented to her because she is a student here is infectious," Bouchard said. "She got other students excited about the opportunities, too, and was always serving as an ambassador for why being part of the college is awesome."

Segovia said working directly for the college gave her many opportunities to be a greater part of the Sun Devil family, which was important since she lived off-campus her entire college career. She volunteered for events, such as convocation ceremonies and ASU Open Door, as a way to introduce students to the school. She also helped Spanish-speaking students, noting that language should not be a barrier to getting the most out of an ASU education.

"Being able to help students and guide them to get the help they need to ensure their success has been a great part of my job here," she said.

Her language skills and her experience as a first-generation student were invaluable for recruiting because they helped Spanish-speaking families feel comfortable sending their students to ASU.

"Her enthusiasm and confidence as she talked to the families helped them to feel more at ease," Bouchard said. "They were able to articulate and address the questions they had not been able to ask before. She understood the questions the family was asking and their hesitations and concerns because they were many of the same ones she had heard in her own home as she transitioned to college."

This past year, Segovia co-founded the new College of Health Solutions College Council, a student-run organization that aims to give students a voice about courses, resources and engagement opportunities. The goal was to create a new communication channel and expand student access to volunteer opportunities, career development tools, college leadership and more. "It's a way for people to feel more connected to campus," Segovia said.

Segovia discussed her ASU experience:.
Question: Why did you choose ASU?
Answer: I chose ASU because it is a great university full of so many ways for students to grow personally and in our preferred professions. As a first-generation college student, I felt welcomed and excited for the endless opportunities and resources. I also love how diverse the university is. That made me feel welcomed when I toured the campus back in high school.
Q: What was your "aha" moment when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?
A: I realized that the exercise and wellness major here at ASU was the best fit for my career interest of athletic training because it definitely has taught me how the human body functions.
Q: What is the best advice you'd give to those still in school?
A: Enjoy every single second of your undergraduate experiences, the ups and the downs, because time flies. Also, make sure you plan out your days and weeks ahead of time so you are not procrastinating or forgetting to get things done.
Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
A: I would invest in research for people who suffer spinal cord injuries and are paralyzed, as that hits home for me. I would try to find ways to help those people live easier lives or not be paralyzed anymore. I would also donate to spinal cord injury research organizations and help them advance a cure for paralysis, no matter the type of paralysis.

Q: What are your plans after graduation?

A: I plan to attend graduate school and complete my master's degree in athletic training to become a certified and licensed athletic trainer. I also am planning on getting my doctorate degree afterwards. I hope to work in the college or professional setting of sports. My favorite sports to work with are baseball, basketball and football.

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Serendipity and tragedy drew first-generation grad to ASU

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Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2021 graduates.It was just luck of the draw that Guadalupe Segovia happened to take a sports medicine class at her Phoenix-area high school. It was luck again - the bad kind - that left one of her loved ones with a spinal cord injury.

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Adrian Marcel Muñiz received his bachelor's degree in kinesiology this spring semester. Next, Adrian plans to get his MS in nursing and work with kids.

When asked what piece of advice he would give to current and incoming students, Adrian said, "Make time to do things you enjoy that aren't related to school. It's okay to take care of yourself and have mental health days."

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This semester Dulce María Vivas Crúz graduated summa 🤬 laude with a BS in medical studies, all while being a mom to her young son. Next she hopes to attend medical school at the University of Arizona.

When asked what piece of advice she would give to current and incoming students, Dulce said, "My advice would be to NEVER give up. No matter how many obstacles you encounter along the way. Stay loyal to your dreams and work hard. Go the extra mile."