“What do you want to be when you grow up?” 

For years, survey after survey shows that “Doctor” or “Nurse” rank among children’s top choices. 

But as they get older, that innocent, elementary-school question gets complicated. They learn about other health care jobs. (What about a physical therapist? Physician assistant? Dentist?) And with all the time and money they’ll need to invest in education and training, they want to be confident choosing the right career for them.

UNC Greensboro students are finding those answers in one of the University’s newest degree programs. Human Health Science (HHSci) welcomed its first students in 2023, who have thrived with the guidance of its director Dr. Jeannette Wade.

“I am overjoyed by its growth and interest as well as the performance of our current students,” she says. “The Human Health Science degree serves as a great option for those seeking to ‘find themselves’ – students who know they want to pursue a career in healthcare but may have been unsuccessful in pinpointing a specific option.” 

Through its interdisciplinary training, a choice of two concentrations, and countless resources within UNCG’s School of Health and Human Sciences, students lay the groundwork for healthcare careers, including but hardly limited to: 

• physical and occupational therapist 
• physician assistant 
• radiologist 
• sonographer 
• medical scientist 

Students have their own living learning community and are starting a new Human Health Sciences Club to build camaraderie beyond their classes and internships. 

HHSci majors shared how it’s made them more confident about the future.

Mary Blake Murphy

High School: Greensboro Middle College, Greensboro, N.C. 
Degree: HHSci with a concentration in health professions, minor in biology 
Extracurriculars: HHSci Club, Communication Lab junior speaking consultant and writing consultant-in-training 

Why did you choose HHSci? 

I knew that I wanted to be pre-PA and take the courses to be on track to go to Physician Assistant School. I thought, “Oh my gosh, this has everything I need.” It has social work, gerontology, biology, anatomy, physiology, all the cornerstones to inclusive, informed healthcare. I thought it was a really great opportunity, and especially since it’s such a new program, there are a lot of growth opportunities. 

What were some of the most interesting courses? 

I took Intro to Gerontology: On Ageism and Aging with Dr. Rebecca Adams, and she is one of the most amazing professors I’ve had. The class taught me a lot about stages of life, about people, and the psychology behind aging, how we really are in it together. 

And Dr. Keith Erikson is a very knowledgeable resource. His nutrition course in my first semester taught me so much about food, illness, and body processes. Another course that I feel has changed my perspective was Anatomy with Beth Bacon, a doctoral student who worked tirelessly last fall to ensure all her students got the support they needed. 

Dr. Wade, I will say, has been an amazing resource. She has gone above and beyond for us. Dr. Jonathan Hendrzak has also gone above and beyond. I’m really grateful for both of them.

What do you feel has prepared you for a job in healthcare so far? 

Once I started, I realized I actually did not know as much about healthcare as I thought I did. As a first-gen student, I had to go digging for my own resources and seek out mentorships, which has actually been a very exciting and rewarding process. Becoming more confident as a student, being able to do things like cold-calling professionals, has been very empowering. 

Also, interacting with people from different places. We have a lot of international students. It’s great getting to know them. I feel that it’s a really good way to grow, especially when it comes to healthcare. I feel it’s important to embrace differences to provide individualized care. That’s something that UNCG has been really good at. All the faculty have aptly prepared me. 

What are you most looking forward to in the coming semesters? 

I’m really looking forward to taking genetics, cell biology, and microbiology. Overall, I’m also excited for the new Human Health Sciences Club. I think it’s going to help a lot of new students who are coming in who might feel like they don’t really have a place. It should foster a community for people who want to go into healthcare but don’t really know how to get involved. 

I feel that UNCG has been a wonderful place for differences to be embraced. It is a really good environment for growth. 

Yawa Eklou

High School: Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology, Charlotte, N.C. 
Degree: HHSci with a minor in biology 
Extracurriculars: Student Government Association Senator, Melanin in Medicine, Honors Program 

Why did you choose HHSci? 

I remember coming for SOAR and participating in an activity in the EUC Auditorium where they make you choose a major. And they said, “This is a new major. You couldn’t have picked it before you came here.” When I saw it, I thought, “Yeah, that’s what I want to do.” I was just trying to navigate college, but I knew I wanted to get into medicine. It’s a good major to just go in and figure things out. 

What were some of the most interesting courses? 

Dr. Nakia Davis is just an amazing professor. She focused on end-of-life care. Hearing about her experiences, having guest speakers from the Triad area come talk to us during class. It was just nice to get hands-on experience and also see how she worked hard to get where she was, the trials she faced, how she shows up for her patients and her students. 

I also really liked Dr. Hendrzak. He’s a doctor who took a step back into teaching. That was nice to me, to have professors who have that hands-on experience. I could ask them questions and compare the differences. I could see what Dr. Nakia liked about her job and what Dr. Hendrzak liked about his job.

What do you feel has prepared you for a job in healthcare so far? 

You’re getting the science classes along with health care-related courses at once. I think it would be a disservice to go into a program without the experience of health care and how culture impacts health care, how socioeconomic statistics impact health care. You have to remember that your patients are people, not just treatments and symptoms. I think it’s nice to have that balance. 

What are you most looking forward to in the coming semesters? 

I’m excited to see how it grows because we were the Human Health Sciences first cohort. I know they’re still hiring as we go, tweaking things as we go. It is kind of nice to be the ‘test dummies,’ because we help build the community. The people in my classes are the same people I started with. It’s nice how close-knit we are. 

A lot of people do come into college thinking they have to be a nurse, or they have to be a doctor, and they have to stick to that route. But you come to college as a teenager, and you leave as an adult. Things are going to change, and that’s fine. 

Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications 
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications