Prescription for Success Event Links Students and Alumni in Healthcare

Students exploring careers in healthcare gathered Aug. 23 in the Brown-Kopel Business Center for FHU’s annual Prescription for Success event, hosted by the Pre-Professional Health Arts Program. First launched in 2017, the popular event invites various FHU alumni, who are currently working in healthcare, to share personal experiences and advice drawn from their own educational paths and careers.

Healthcare students enjoy learning from professionals who were once students like them.

Wendy Gean, assistant professor of biology and director of the Pre-Professional Health Arts Program, emphasized the importance of connecting individuals at all levels of their career journeys.

“Finding the right professional path is hard, especially in healthcare,” Gean said. “With so many options, students need to explore the range of jobs available as they make decisions. By having access to current practitioners, students can learn more about healthcare provider roles and ask questions to those who live it. Through tapping into that collective experience, students can make more informed decisions.”

Dr. Steven Haywood speaks to students about his career in medicine.

This resource proved helpful for students like Josh Evins, from Brighton, Tennessee. A Bible and biology major, Evins attended the event so that he could help discover the best path that would lead him to Physician Assistant (PA) school. After hearing from a visiting PA as well as a nurse practitioner, he was able to get many of his questions answered and gained clarity on his future plans.

One of the day’s guest speakers was Jamie (Moody) Cain, a 2019 FHU alumna who now works as a registered nurse at the West Tennessee Surgery Center and Recovery Room. During her presentation and Q&A with students, Cain discussed lessons she had learned so far in her career, such as the importance of good communication skills, practicing empathy, and how to deal with the emotional weight of the job.

“For me, it is a very rewarding career,” she shared. “I know that I have the ability to make a difference in someone’s life literally every day that I go to work. And I’m also able to show Jesus in a way that not everybody can. You could be with somebody on potentially the worst day of their life, and that is a very important role you get to play. There are really hard days, but then those really good days help you remember why you love being a nurse.”

Event participants get to know visiting professionals.

Zannah Vinson, a freshman psychology and music major from Covington, Tennessee, hopes to make a positive difference in her future career by working with people of all ages, possibly using music therapy. “I’m really interested in learning about other people’s experiences and the medical field,” she said. “I am looking into being a psychological counselor, and so I was happy to hear everyone’s stories about how they deal with different types of psychological trauma while maintaining their professionalism.”

Year after year, Prescription for Success equips students to explore career options while fostering mentorship, professional connections and lifelong support from FHU alumni in healthcare.