A frontline worker and a soon-to-be frontline worker discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their professions.
Jesus Garcia
Nursing Student, Chamberlain University
What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?
I firmly believe a positive attitude can be transferred between people. Nursing gives me the opportunity to positively affect people’s lives when they need it most. If I can shine my light to help another person who needs it more, then I would just be doing something I’m naturally passionate about for a living. That is why I chose to pursue nursing as a career.
How has the reality of the pandemic shaped your perception of your career path (if at all)?
The reality of this pandemic has made me appreciate nurses and healthcare workers more than I already did. I can honestly say it makes me more proud to be a nursing student and know that I will one day be embarking on a career journey that is noble and essential for society.
Bilal Khan, MD
Graduate, AUA College of Medicine
What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?
After college, I wanted to pursue a finance career but switched careers to medicine after some time as a volunteer firefighter reminded me how much I loved to help other people. In business, if you’re good at something you don’t teach other people how to do it because that is your value. In medicine, it is the opposite: You are valued based on how much you can teach other people how to do what you do.
How has the reality of the pandemic shaped your perception of your career path (if at all)?
You sign up to try and protect lives, but you never consider having to risk your own life to do it. This is the first time we’ve had to risk our lives to save others and it really tested our passion to save lives and think of others before ourselves. In reality, that is the foundation of any noble healthcare provider.