What Can I Do With My Summer?

Along with beach days, family vacations and lazy afternoons, Summer can be a great time to start building a strong application for your Health Science major. Here are a few tips for helping to make the most of your summer in-between the beach days and vacations you may have planned.

EXPERIENCE: This is a very broad category that can be divided into two areas:

1. Start with getting some Personal Experience, which is good for confirming if the major you chose is right for you, Some examples of what you could do:
   1. Shadow a Health Professional. Contact a local hospital and ask about any volunteer or shadow opportunities that might be available to you.
   2. Observe at a local office or private practice. Contact your family doctor or dentist and ask if they will allow you to observe for a few hours or if they have any volunteer opportunities. This is a great way to gain experience but also helps establish a potential reference when if comes time to apply into your program.
2. Build your professional resume. This could mean completing a certificate or licensure program that will give you more patient contact and help make you more competitive for your program. Some examples of this could be:
   1. Certified Nursing Aid (CNA). Search local Community Colleges or health care institutions for programs in your area, this is one example of a program here in Hampton Roads at Tidewater Community College: http://www.tcc.edu/academics/divisions/healthprofessions/nur/
   2. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Search local Community Colleges or health care institutions for programs in your area, this is one example of a program here in Virginia Beach at Tidewater Community College: http://www.tcc.edu/academics/divisions/healthprofessions/ems/
      1. You can also check with your local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department to see if they offer EMT training. Some cities, little Virginia Beach, offer free EMT training in exchange for a volunteer rime commitment: http://www.vabeachems.com/

*For more information on Licensure programs in your area, research online or use Google to explore Health Care opportunities or programs close to you.

OTHER IDEAS FOR SUMMER: Being academically prepared for College is not limited to taking college level courses to transfer into Old Dominion University, it can mean using the summer to help develop the academic skills and habits you will need to be a successful college student. Here are some ideas to help make you summer an academically productive one:

1. Seek out books, articles or periodicals that pertain to your field of study. Seek to understand the current issues that professionals in your field are facing.
2. Identify a subject area in your college curriculum you might struggle with or find really challenging and stay active in that area over summer, by seeking out practice problems or researching study skills in that area. For example, if math is a weak subject for you and you see that you need to take College Algebra in your program, seek out Youtube videos or online resources that will strengthen your Math skills. Here are a couple we found:
   1. StraighterLine: https://www.youtube.com/user/Str8erLine/videos
   2. Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/
3. Preemptively establish study groups. As you are finalize your housing assignments, talk with your roommate or other freshmen you meet at Preview and start a study group for the Fall.
4. Research professional organizations in your chosen field. Find information about certification, job opportunities, starting salary, continuing education and more. Some examples are:
   1. Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
   2. American Nurses Association
   3. American Medical Technologists
   4. American Society for Cytotechnology
   5. American Dental Hygiene Association
   6. Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology
   7. National Environmental Health Association
   8. American Public Health Association
   9. American Association of Healthcare Administration Management
5. Follow the professional organization for your field on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.

Let us know YOUR ideas to build personal or academic experience so we can add them to our list!