Jaret Glander '23Medicine (MD)

Name: Jaret Glander

Graduation Year: 2023

Major: Religion

Story: Until my freshman year of college, I always wanted to be a doctor. After an intense
first semester of classes, I chose to follow the nursing path, with goals of becoming a
nurse anesthetist. For the next three semesters, I took all of the nursing prerequisite
courses and obtained my nurse assistant certification (a requirement for the major).
After applying for the program at the end of my sophomore year, I was hired for a
summer job at my local hospital’s ICU as a nurse assistant. A few months into work, I
received news that I was accepted into the nursing program.
Although the news excited me at first, other thoughts were stirring in the
back of my mind. Whenever I saw a doctor walk by me in the hallway, I felt feelings
of regret. I knew that I had the potential to be a doctor, and yet I had chosen a
different path. During the next few weeks, my excitement turned into regret and shame. 

I felt trapped. I didn’t think it was possible to go back to the pre-med track
after abandoning all of the prerequisites without a few extra years of schooling.

Luckily for me, Heather Banks was able to meet with me virtually via Zoom that
summer. We went through a plan to get me back onto the pre-med track. When the
meeting was over, I felt joy and excitement. Although I would need to take a gap year
to apply for medical school, I would be able to complete all of my classes on time.
And funnily enough, I was able to graduate with a Religion degree, where I met
classmates and professors who thoroughly enhanced my experience at Gustavus.
Although the road was winding, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Top Five Activities/Experiences: (in no particular order)
1. Working as a nurse assistant at Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia, MN.

2. Leading and planning a “Be the Match” campaign at Gustavus, where students
entered a registry to find matches for people needing bone marrow and stem
cell transplants. With over 400 student applications, we had 2 matches!

3. Shadowing doctors at Mankato Clinic through Gustavus’ Career Exploration
J-Term course.

4. Performing in the band ‘Saving Spencer’ at the Adolphson house.

5. Playing disc golf at the St. Peter course!

Advice:
1. Even if you feel certain about your career path, always look for opportunities
to shadow or work in your desired field. Speaking from experience, you may
find out that a different path is your calling.

2. Reach out to Heather Banks and other Gustavus career planning resources.
There are so many moving parts and things to consider to build a good
medical school application. Do not do it alone!

3. For all future medical students, I couldn’t recommend getting your nurse
assistant certification enough. Not only is it great clinical hours, but the job
teaches you to appreciate all healthcare workers for the difficult work they
do.

Future Plans:
Attending University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, starting Fall
2024.