1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.  Hi! I’m Jordan Paluch from Lake Geneva, WI. I’m currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Biology and Life Sciences Communication as well as obtaining certificates (minoring) in Global Health and Leadership.

Growing up, my parents strongly emphasized overall wellness. We always ate local produce, organic food and made sure to do a little cardio everyday. I also saw doctors, physical therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors- you name it! Because of them, I really fell in love with the tenets of osteopathic medicine, and I am very excited to apply to D.O. schools this spring!

2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you? I believed I would go to art or design school until 16/17. Fulfilling my last science requirement in high school, however, I somehow ended up in an honors anatomy and physiology course that I didn’t sign up for. I only remained in the class because I thought my teacher was cute! Over the course of the year, the teacher that I had taught that even though I mainly had a creative mind, there were ways that art and biology mixed and that I could be good at both. I ended up taking AP biology only because that teacher was teaching it the following year and that’s how I fell in love with biology!

3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why? I don’t think I could pinpoint exactly when I wanted to become a doctor. I believe that an amalgamation of events over the course of my life has led me to where I am today. Some of these events include going on a mission trip to Haiti because of my OBGYN, my mom being diagnosed with skin cancer, volunteering weekly at a local hospital and observing patient-physician interactions, having a rude professor told me that I’d never make it into the medical field, helping a solely volunteer-run women’s clinic in the area, shadowing multiple kinds of doctors, going on a Remote Area Medical trip in rural New York to help give the underserved free healthcare, creating events for my Pre-SOMA chapter and therefore having a group of people get as excited as I am about medicine- honestly the reasons are endless! I think that so many things that have happened in my life and so many opportunities have presented themselves to me and, ultimately, that has pointed me in this direction.

4. What area of medicine are you interested in? It’s hard to know right now what I would be good at or what my niche will be, so I am leaving my mind open to anything. It is a personal goal of mine to open a free clinic, however, so I know for sure I will be working with underserved or rural communities.

5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey? I am going to Omed this weekend in Philadelphia with two of my Pre-SOMA board members (who also happen to be good friends) and I expect that to be incredible! All the experiences I’ve listed before have been cool too, to be honest (yes, even the rude professor- he helped shape me into the resilient person I am today).

One specific experience that resonated with me strongly, however, was when I shadowed in the neurosurgery clinic at UW hospital. There was an older man around 70 or 80 years old who had gotten into an accident, and while his scans came back fine, he claimed he couldn’t remember who he was before the accident. I thought about this so deeply- if I were to get in an accident and not remember who I was, how would others describe me? Would I have enough pictures and video to remember what I was like? After that day, I vowed to record a little bit of each day during my senior year via GoPro so that I can eventually make myself a day in the life video! I’ve already caught so many amazing memories on camera that I otherwise wouldn’t have and it’s only the beginning of October.

6. What is your favorite book? I can’t remember the last time I read for leisure, so I’m just going to say that some of my readings for my anthropology class have been about ancient genetics and immunology in Neanderthals, which has been pretty neat to read about!

7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know. I’m actually a wedding photographer/videographer/photo editor on the weekends! I love being able to get paid for a creative break from all of the stresses of school. I’ve worked this job since around 14 or 15 years old and being able to move up in a company because of the hard work I’ve put into it has been an extremely rewarding feeling.

My photography job emphasizes a completely different way of thinking aside from my Biology major, which is why I also added the Life Sciences Communication major. It was a perfect fit for me because I not only get to express my creativity, but I get to do that with science!

8.  What do you like most about PreMed StAR?  What I like the most about PreMed StAR is that I get to see what other pre-meds around the country are involved in and what their reasons for going into medicine are!

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