Pre-Professional Health Career Path: Nutritional Sciences

Houston, Texas native and Nutritional Sciences major Abigail Jackson's dream of attending medical school has come true. Abigail was accepted to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine in Lubbock for the Fall 2019 entry term.

As a student in the College of Human Sciences (COHS), Abigail says her nutrition courses allowed her to enjoy the application journey for medical school. She encourages other students to look forward to their classes in COHS, having the confidence that they will come out prepared.

"We are going into the medical field because we want to serve others, and we're in human sciences because we want to know about what makes our patients individuals!"

When Abigail began her academic journey to medical school, she often sought the advice of her academic advisor, Dolores Salas-Marmolejo.

"Dolores was my best COHS resource," Abigail said. "From my first advising appointment, Dolores made sure I knew we would make it work. She has been creative to make all my pre-requisites work in the needed time frame. When I found out I got in, she was ready with a hug!"

To enrich her application, Abigail has stayed highly involved both on and off campus shadowing surgeons, and in her roles with Red Raider Orientation as Senior Captain, President's Select, and Kappa Alpha Theta.

Abigail was accepted through the Early Acceptance Program, an agreement between the Texas Tech Honors College and TTUHSC for third year honors students to apply a year early. Abigail recalls working on her applications essays as a difficult step, but one that was worthwhile in the end.

"What a relief it was to submit that application! I spent over a dozen hours at the University Career Center editing and revising my essays; it was grueling, but I am so proud of the material I submitted and couldn't have done it without their counselors."

Abigail dreamt of medical school largely for the impact that nutrition has on patients. Through her nutrition degree coursework, she says she has learned how important quality nutrition is to patient recovery.

"As I get farther into the clinically-based nutrition courses, I am even more excited to begin practicing. I want to use my nutrition knowledge to know when a dietitian can be consulted before trying other treatment. Being a physician with a nutrition background would allow me to use my skills in surgery but also the ability to monitor the patient's nutritional status post-op."