Thriving as a Premed at Northeastern’s Oakland Campus

What’s it like to start your premed journey on Northeastern’s Oakland campus? For Thea Carr and Joelle Caternor, it meant small class sizes, close faculty mentorship, early research opportunities, and a supportive, tight-knit community. In this blog, they share how Oakland became an unexpected launchpad for their success as aspiring healthcare professionals—and why they’d recommend it to future students navigating the prehealth path.

Thea Carr

Attending the Oakland campus was not my first choice but it was the best thing that could have happened and significantly benefitted my premed experience as well as my college experience overall. I had opportunities and experiences that I would not have had otherwise. I would recommend attending the Oakland campus to any future students of Northeastern.

Taking Advantage of the Small Campus

Most of the classes in Oakland are fairly small which allow you to build meaningful connections with your professors. I found it very beneficial to go to office hours for my professors whenever I could. This not only helped me do well in my classes but also allowed me to get to know my professors. I enjoyed being able to talk to my professors not only about class material but also for advice about school or life in general. My professors in Oakland were some of the best teachers I have had and were all so kind.

Furthermore since the Oakland campus is fairly small and only had freshmen, it was, in my experience, easy to meet people and make connections. It was comforting to know that we were all in the same position. It was nice that you would often be running into the same people and have a lot of the same people in classes. This made it easy to form study groups, make friends, and improved the class dynamics.

Research

At the beginning of the year there was a research showcase where the professors with active research presented and shared how students could apply for the lab. I found Dr. Young’s lab was very interesting and I applied shortly after. Dr. Young’s lab studies the behaviors of C. Elegans, which are very small worms, specifically pertaining to their response to voltage application. I had an incredible experience working in Dr. Young’s lab and I would recommend it to anyone looking to do research on the Oakland campus. I was able to have so much lab experience that I would not have had otherwise. I was able to help design experiments and collaborate directly with Dr. Young about the research which is not typically something that undergraduates get to do. I also had the incredible opportunity to fly out to Boston along with the other members of the lab to present at the Northeastern Rise conference in Boston. With the experience I gained in Oakland and the help of Dr. Young I was able to get a position in a lab in Boston, where I started this summer shortly after returning from Oakland.

Jobs

During my time on the Oakland campus I worked as a college of science ambassador. In this position I worked as a liaison between the Boston and Oakland college of science which allowed me to learn about and be connected with the Boston campus while in Oakland. This allowed me to meet many people working on the Boston campus.

Don’t limit yourself to only doing things related to pre med. There are many other amazing opportunities. I also worked in the Digital Transgender Archives which was definitely a highlight of my Oakland experience. I was able to not only connect with Oakland students and faculty but I was also able to be part of the larger Northeastern Digital Trans Archives community.

Clubs and Activities

To be completely transparent there were not too many organized clubs on campus, especially regarding pre-med. But that is different every year. I would recommend opting for positions on campus that are more regulated by professors or staff, unless you plan to be the president of a club to ensure it is running smoothly.

Some volunteering I did was with the Oakland Multi-disciplinary committee. I was a student representative and I would help plan pre-med events. I would recommend both being a member of the committee and attending their events.

One of the most important parts of being a premed student is balancing school, work and labs work with activities you enjoy. One of my favorite things was being on the club rock climbing team, as it allowed me to have fun spending time with friends and exercise.

Helpful Pre-med Events and Resources

I was a member of the Oakland multidisciplinary committee which hosted the pre med events on the Oakland campus. So I not only attended the meetings but I was able to help plan them. There were various informational events. My favorite one was the panel hosted at Mills hall. Various people from the medical community came to speak and describe their journey into the medical industry.

On top of the in person events I found the pre-med resources such as the newsletter, MAP (Medical Applicant Portal) and the advising appointment to be very helpful. I really enjoyed the 1:1 advising appointment because I was able to ask all of the questions I had about pre-med and what I was supposed to be doing. Especially because there is not much you can do your freshman year other than doing well in your classes and getting involved in extracurriculars. The newsletter was very informative about any premed info sessions, which Oakland and other global students were able to join online.

Final Advise

Through all my experiences on the Oakland campus I was able to build a strong enough foundation to get a position at Boston Children’s Hospital for the summer. Overall I consider my time in Oakland to be very valuable and if given the choice to redo my first year I would 100% go to Oakland again. The advice I would give to future Oakland students is, give Oakland a chance, don’t be discouraged if you did not get to go to your first choice of campus. Finally make sure to explore the Bay Area, there are so many beautiful places.

Joelle (Jo) Caternor

Hi my name is Jo Caternor, and I am a rising sophomore here at Northeastern University.

I am a health sciences major on a pre dental track, and spent my first year in California on the Oakland campus. I hope that my journey so far can help anyone who might feel lost or worried about their future as a student. I know it isn’t easy, but there are so many successes and learning opportunities on the journey to wherever you want to end up, and they will all be worth it in the end. Here is a look into mine so far!

Build connections with pre health students, professors, and campus community members

I had Dr. Catrina Jaime as my professor for both semesters of my freshman year in Oakland. Through conversation with her we connected inside and outside the classroom. I found that she was someone I could trust to help me with not just classwork and educational mentorship, but also with my transition to college and the Oakland campus. She helped me start to see a future geared towards public health and community work which I have since grown passionate about. I got the chance to be her TA for a summer term, and I look forward to continuing to work with her through the fall semester remotely. If there is one piece of advice I could give on connecting with professors is to remember they are people too! It can be intimidating approaching professors at times, but while maintaining respect and professionalism, meeting the right professor can turn into forming a great supportive relationship.

Research

Coming into school I had just about no research experience. Like many others, I did not complete research in high school. I did know however that I wanted to engage in research at some point in my undergraduate career. After connecting with a professor of mine who spoke about research she was involved in with a local organization, Inside Circle. I was able to meet with the operators of the organization, and talk to them about their mission. We also spoke about how they collect and use data to help advance their mission. Additionally, I met with a student and their research advisors to observe how they take the data from Inside Circle and process it into relevant information. It was very helpful to watch these research activities and view it from different perspectives and roles of the research process to help me understand if I want to involve myself in that style of research or explore something else.

Engage PreHealth Communications

At the beginning of my freshman year, I met many other students that were interested in healthcare, but not any who were interested in dentistry. This made me question if I was pursuing the right path because it seemed as if I was alone on this journey. I found it hard to connect in conversations about future plans and opportunities since my goals felt different from my peers.

However, paying attention to my email for newsletters and alerts from the Pre-Health community at Northeastern helped me with this a lot. One day, I saw an email containing information about an online course led by Harvard School of Dental Medicine students titled “Intro to Dentistry” made for undergraduate students. The 7-week course explored general knowledge and various specialties in dentistry. My application was accepted to join the course, and through those weeks, my choice to pursue dentistry was solidified.

Campus Involvement

During my time on the Oakland campus I joined the student-led Northeastern Oakland Dance Company (NUODC). I love the sciences and share a mutual passion for the arts! After being a dancer throughout high-school, I was more than excited to be able to find community in other dancers and get the chance to perform again. The people I met through NUODC became really close friends and taught me a lot about self discipline. Being able to manage classes while also making sure I practiced and rehearsed throughout busy seasons like finals certainly developed me as a student. Time management is important as a student now, and will be even more so as a healthcare professional, so any chance to grow that skill is a beneficial opportunity. This experience gave me the chance to perform as an opener for Kehlani during Springfest, and more importantly left me with a great community I can’t wait to move on with into Boston.

Extracurricular Activities

I was blessed to be accepted into a 6-week enrichment program titled Summer Health Professional Education Program (SHPEP). I spent 4 out of the 6 weeks in Louisville, KY on the University of Louisville Campus. There was so much valuable information and many skills that I gained from this program, but the thing that stood out the most to me were the opportunities to engage in activities with the University of Louisville School of Dentistry (ULSD). Through SHPEP, I was able to enter the labs at ULSD and practice skills such as waxing, fillings, impressions, and drilling. We shadowed different dentists and students in the clinic and there were numerous opportunities to speak with admissions counselors and student panels. I gained multiple certifications and made new friends and connections with peers, faculty, and staff. This experience has helped me truly envision my future as a healthcare professional and set me up for success on my journey towards dental school.

Final Advice

There are two things I have carried with me that I believe have supported me as a student.

The first is living with the mindset that “everything happens for a reason”. There have been so many moments of rejection and denial when I felt like that would be the end of everything and that obstacle would never be overcome… and that’s false. By continuously looking for silver linings and further opportunities, even when things don’t go as planned, it’s all a part of your journey. Eventually, alternate opportunities may turn up that you don’t expect, you can meet people you may have never met, and you can end up in rooms you never dreamed of entering.

The second is to have more faith in yourself than anyone else. Having confidence in your abilities and knowing your worth is so important. You have to feel worthy and deserving of every space you desire to be in. Don’t fall victim to imposter syndrome! You have accomplished so much and you are going to accomplish much more if you stay passionate and put your heart into everything you do.