Nina Menon ’18 was one of the 100 applicants that were selected for the University of Pennsylvania medical program. For the entire month of July, Menon learned about almost every kind of medical field from neurology to psychology.

She got to meet with different doctors who told her interesting stories as well as what their field required and the basic run down of their jobs. Not only did she learn what these different medical fields entailed, but she got to witness these doctors in their own environment.

Menon got to experience everything from drawing blood to a live surgery. Overall, she said she had an amazing time and got to experience brand new things and meet wonderful people.

Menon responded to several questions about her experiences with the doctors at the University of Pennsylvania.

Q: Why did you decide to go to Penn, and why not a different university?
A:There were lots of programs to choose from, but this one was a month and I wanted to see if medicine was the right fit for me, because it is a huge commitment.

Q: What do you want to major in?
A: I want to go into medicine, though I’m not so sure what field I am interested in. At first I was hugely against anything to do with surgery, but after this program I’m a lot more open to it. Though I don’t really want to be a surgeon specifically.

Q:What did you learn?
A:Medicine is a huge commitment, but totally worth it if you’re passionate about medicine and want to make a difference.

Q: What made the experience fun, and if it wasn’t fun then what would you suggest to make it better?
A:It was actually super fun! I was exposed to everything including a lot of psychology, though there were some topics that were just not interesting. But, it was still fun nonetheless.

Q: Any funny stories?
A:We went to this amusement park called Hershey Park that was literally based off the chocolate and we saw Nick Jonas there. We also got to see cadavers and cut open a brain which was really cool to think that this is what allows people to think and they have memories, but it’s just so small.