Oh, the Humanity

In his finance days, Young Kang would feel a surge of pride every time his clients were on the path to meeting their financial goals. But he wanted to do so much more for them. 

Instead of assisting with people's financial needs, Kang also wanted to enrich their physical health and well-being. Volunteering stints as a medic and a clinic assistant reinforced Kang's decision to transition into a health-oriented career.

And like many pre-health students, in order to become a strong candidate for med school, Kang needed to fulfill his science prerequisites. This is where the Post-Baccalaureate Health Professions Program stepped in.

"In my research to select the best institution for my prerequisites," Kang remembers, "I emailed several admissions counselors at different medical schools I was interested in applying to. Almost all of them replied that they prefer their applicants to complete their prerequisites in a post-bacc institution, as compared to community colleges. As a career changer, I wanted to apply to a program that could best guide me in my journey. I made the right choice with UC Berkeley Extension."

I wanted to apply to a program that could best guide me in my journey.

Kang credits both his fellow students and instructors in paving the way to where he is today: a first-year student at UC Davis School of Medicine. "I just finished my first week and so far we tackled anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, histology and doctoring. It was a very busy and challenging first week, but I am very satisfied and happy."

Kang looks back fondly on his time well-spent in the post-bacc program:

On his fellow classmates:
I met many interesting students, many of whom were very motivated to achieve their goals of entering the health care field of their choice. I was fortunate to have made friends who helped me tremendously during my application cycle—some of them I still keep in touch with today, to talk about life in the M1 and M2 years in medical school. Some I help with their application—providing the same help I received from others. Some I still meet just to hang and talk about anything other than school.

I don't think I would have gotten accepted to a medical school had my relationship with my instructors not been strong.

On his instructors:
I was fortunate to have met many who were willing to work with the students. They communicated very well what their expectations were and how these expectations were to be met. There are no tricks or surprises during a course: The effort I put in is the grade I earned at the end of the semester. I ended up asking five instructors for a letter of recommendation: four for the composite letter and one stand-alone letter. I don't think I would have gotten accepted to a medical school had my relationship with my instructors not been strong.