Lindsey Berke
Staff Writer ‘19
The Health Science Club held an event about Merrimack’s new nursing program in The Hub on Feb. 28. The speakers, Juan Lopez and Victoria Caruso, are both currently enrolled in a nursing program at Northeastern. They offered students important information about the process of applications, post-graduation experiences, and different career paths related to health sciences.
Lopez, a 2018 graduate of Merrimack College, did not always know that he wanted to go into a health science field, but he explained to students that there are many options out there.
“I was a biology major and wanted to go to medical school. After taking some classes in the Health Science department, I knew I wanted to pursue a different career in health care,” Lopez said, “I took it upon myself to look into nursing because it embodies the scientific and clinical aspect of healthcare.”
Eventually Lopez wants to be a psychiatric nurse practitioner and hopes to continuing speaking to students about their career paths, especially students who may be in the same position he once was. Lopez also emphasized that students need to develop great interpersonal skills to give patients the care that they deserve, and that we are in need for more people to be nurses.“The new hype on campus is out newly created nursing major that will officially be up and running in the Fall of 2019. It is only open for incoming freshmen, but we put on this event because we wanted to help undergraduates [at Merrimack] find out there are other nursing opportunities…,” says Randy Castillo, who is the president of the Health Sciences Club.
Randy Castillo describes the club as “a student-run organization on campus that helps promote healthy life choices as well as assist students with finding out what path they want to take in their professional careers by introducing them to different connections within the Health Science field.”
In total, eight students interested in Health Sciences as well as the Health Sciences Club eboard attended the event, including, Isabela Moreno, Lauren Buttiglieri, Olivia Danjou, and Castillo.
Many students in attendance and involved in the Health Sciences Club are enrolled in the School of Health Sciences. As of the Fall semester of 2017, 442 undergraduate students and 92 graduate students enrolled in the School of Health Sciences, but those numbers only keep growing. The School of Health Sciences at Merrimack College is one that shows a promising future to those studying within the school, and among the advanced courses, improved technology, and newly renovated floor in O’Reilly Hall.
The Health Science Club plans to host additional events with guest speakers, including individuals working in athletic training and strength and conditioning. Health Science Club meetings for the rest of the spring semester are held in the Hub, bi-weekly on Thursdays from 5:00-6:00 p.m.
