One of our many missions is to provide a community for healthcare workers/students to share their stories about their endearing journey towards reaching their goals. We want our scope family to be able to inspire each other to be their best and reach their highest potential. Let us introduce #InspireScope, where every few weeks, we'll be featuring the stories of your experiences and how you've gotten to where you are today. Thank you for letting us share your story with our scope community.
Courtney L., Dental Assistant
Hi! My name is Courtney. I tried every avenue of healthcare in my early 20’s whether the idea lasted 2 minutes or 2 years. Nursing, Physical Therapy, Childlife Specialist, Dietitian, EMT, you name it. I tried all of these things and none of them felt right until I came across the dental field. I am a Dental Assistant (in training) working toward my certifications and grateful to be hands on in the field currently. I am also a new mom to a 4 month old boy who I am able to support because of this field. I suck at sitting at a desk and being a DA definitely requires roller skates. I love the movement, creativity, art, and science that dental encompasses. I feel like not many people fully know what we can do and accomplish. There’s so many avenues available besides general dentistry. We can assist oral surgeons, endodontists, periodontists, and orthodontists, and become travel Dental Assistants. I love what I do and all the avenues it took to get here were worth it. All the time spent getting to know myself and not allowing myself to settle brought me here and I’m so thankful. Don’t be afraid to try things and leave them because eventually you’ll find the one thing you don’t want to leave.
Whatever you do deserves to make you smile.
Emily Y., OMS-I
Today is my first day of medical school! I started undergrad as a computer science major thinking that I wanted to go into some kind of software development, though I discovered quickly that this was not my passion. I switched to bioengineering and neuroscience in order to get a better understanding of medical devices and technology. Each time I applied to medical school, I felt so discouraged with all the rejection emails flooding in each month to the point that I stopped reading them. I debated continuously if medicine was for me and if I should just switch gears again and focus on my bioengineering background. I even did my masters in bioengineering, with the thought in my mind that I needed to have a back-up plan in case my dreams of becoming a doctor didn't work out. When I finally got the call this year that my hard work had paid off and I was accepted to medical school, I immediately began crying tears of relief. Even with the months leading up to orientation, it didn't feel real. It was only today, when I began my first day of classes, that I finally realized that I have started the next chapter of my life!
Gabriela M., Pre-Veterinary Student
My name is Gabriela Medina Vázquez; I'm a pre-vet from “La Isla del Encanto,” Puerto Rico. I obtained my BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico in 2021 and became a veterinary assistant at the Spokane Humane Society.
Since I was a little girl, I always knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. I’ve always felt drawn to protect and heal animals. As I've grown and been exposed to different aspects of this field, I've realized it's more than just loving animals. It’s more of me being an advocate for them, having the passion for pursuing a career in medicine, making the tough choices, and being part of the solution.
For me, the veterinary medicine field is one for the brave. Veterinarians are expected to be leaders, mentors, advocates, and more. It's WAY more than just learning the anatomy and physiology of an animal. This is the reason why I chose this field.
As a non-traditional pre-vet student, I struggled to find mentorship and opportunities to grow in the veterinary medicine field. I realized I needed a support system to understand that my journey doesn’t have to look like others to succeed as a future veterinarian. That’s when I realized that I wasn’t alone, and other pre-vets struggled with the same circumstances as me. This made a significant impact on my life, and so I decided to create a community through social media where we could all support each other in this arduous journey.
Currently, I'm applying to veterinary school, creating content to share my experiences as a pre-vet student & working with A Latina’s White Coat to empower Latina women. I’m taking a gap year to work on mentoring pre-vets like me and looking for learning opportunities to keep growing in veterinary medicine and positively impacting my community.