STEM is Health
Many health professionals work on the “front line” as doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, nurses, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and phlebotomists, but there are also many jobs behind the scenes in medical research, drug design & development, and hospital labs. SUNY Potsdam offers many programs that can jump start a student’s career in a health-related field. These programs include:
- Anthropology: Biological Anthropologists grapple with the evolution of human health as well as the genetic implications for disease and how people are the product of their DNA and their environment.
- Biology with a Pre-med and Pre-health concentration: Biology is typically the path of choice for healthcare professionals: physicians, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, pharmacists, veterinarians, etc. But medical research is also a very important for continued advancement of the field.
- Chemistry and Biochemistry: Biochemists play a central role in many health-related areas such as medicine, medical research, drug design and toxicology. Organic and analytical chemists are involved in producing and testing pharmaceuticals.
- Public Health: The BS in Public Health is designed to train public health professionals to promote, protect and preserve health of communities. In doing this, the major prepares graduates to work with diverse populations, identify the distribution of diseases/illnesses/injuries in communities, develop, implement and evaluate evidence-based programs and serve as an advocate for communities around health issues.
- Computer Science: Computational tools are crucial in all aspects of the health sector, from computerized testing equipment, to lab test analysis, to patient records.
- Exercise Science: Exercise Science serves as a springboard to high demand occupations such as Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Chiropractic, Cardiac Rehabilitation and Athletic Training. Exercise Physiologists are also involved in research and application of theories relevant to health and human performance.
- Mathematics: Statistics is the key tool for testing of new drugs in pharmaceutical research. Data science is being used to develop new cancer drugs that are customized based upon the patients’ genes. A master’s degree in statistics is often required to be a genetic counselor.
- Physics: Physicists apply fundamental scientific principles to healthcare and medicine. Applications of these basic principles can be found in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation oncology.
Contact Dr. Robert Ewy (pre-Health adviser) at (315) 267-2191 or ewyrg@potsdam.edu for more information on preparing for a medical career.