Three years after being a member of the first class of the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy, Annuja Mathivanan was back at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital Aug. 15 to visit. She is now enrolled in the University of Missouri-Columbia diagnostic medical ultrasound program where after she receives her bachelor’s degree, she plans to work on her master’s degree.
She credits Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital and the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy, an elective course for high school seniors interested in health and biomedical careers, with helping her choose a career.
The Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy combines classroom learning with job shadowing at BJWCH, in partnership with Special School District, Parkway School District and BJC School Outreach and Youth Development.
Mathivanan was a student in the Academy in 2013. In July 2015, she returned to BJWCH to shadow Meaghan Frank in interventional radiology. She believes that shadowing was crucial to helping her decide a major. “I knew that I wanted to work in health care, but wasn’t sure what specialty,” Mathivanan says. “The shadowing at BJWCH encouraged me to go into radiology and helped me with the interview process. I gained so much experience.”