Pathways: From Pharmacy Tech to Bradley to Medical Student
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Charlie Perez-Suarez
President of Bradley University Pipeline Program Student Interest Group at UICOMP
I worked at Walgreen’s as a pharmacy tech during high school and thought I wanted to be a pharmacist when I started at Bradley. I quickly realized I really enjoyed working in healthcare, but pharmacy was not for me. I had shadowed a couple of different healthcare fields such as dentistry, but still hadn’t had an “aha moment.” I decided to stay in Peoria the summer of my second year of college, and my advisor forwarded an email from a UICOMP medical student who was looking for pre-med majors who would be able to interpret for Spanish-speaking patients at Cordoba Medical Free Clinic because they did not have medical students who spoke Spanish there.
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I am a first-generation college graduate, so I did not know anything about how to apply to college, and even less knowledge of what to do to become a doctor. It’s rewarding to help students from diverse backgrounds, like myself, and lets me better prepare these students for applying to medical school.
From Pharmacy Tech to Bradley to Medical Student Heading link
Because I grew up in the US with Spanish-speaking immigrant parents, I had to translate for them from the age of five. The only place I never had to translate for them was at my pediatrician’s office because he spoke Spanish. I always felt so welcome at my pediatrician’s office because I knew I wouldn’t have to translate for my parents at my doctor’s visits. When I began working as a pharmacy tech, I was the only person at the pharmacy who spoke Spanish so I was always helping Spanish-speaking patients. I quickly fell in love with helping patients that looked and sounded like my immigrant parents. The look of relief on my patients’ faces when they knew there was someone who spoke their language was so rewarding, and I started looking forward to Sundays and my volunteer time at Cordoba Clinic. The founder of Cordoba, Dr. Ellahi, was always so kind to me and took time to go through his thought processes and treatment plans, even though I was only a pre-med at the time.
As president of the Bradley University Pipeline student interest group, I help with organizing group meetings and attending events. Hearing about this program as a Bradley alum, I knew this would be a great opportunity to give back to the school and community that has helped me become a doctor. I am a first-generation college graduate, so I did not know anything about how to apply to college, and even less knowledge of what to do to become a doctor. It’s rewarding to help students from diverse backgrounds, like myself, and lets me better prepare these students for applying to medical school. Being able to relate to the current Bradley students because I was in their shoes three years ago is the most rewarding part. I’m able to talk to them about what my experience as a pre-med was, how well Bradley prepared me for medical school, and then mentoring these students with information that I received as a pre-med that can help them during their pathway to becoming a doctor.
Perez-Suarez is a member of the UICOMP Class of 2025 and is considering specializing in cardiology.
This article is part of the Summer 2024 issue of Pathways magazine.