Currently working her sixth year at Occidental, Kat Wang, director of Pre-Health Advising, can often be found in the Hammetman Career Center supporting students through their pre-health journeys on their various healthcare pathways. Her busy workdays are spent meeting with students one-on-one, event planning, working with Occidental’s alumni network and teaching a class. As a first-generation student of color and woman in STEM, Wang said she is driven to advocate for students in similar positions as her.
8:45 a.m.
Wang said upon arriving at Occidental, she drops off her two children at Occidental’s Child Development Center before having her coffee, sending emails and getting organized for the day ahead.
“Usually my schedule is pretty full,” Wang said. “It’s predictable.”
9:30 a.m.
Wang said she is booked from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with 30-minute advising sessions, specifically meeting with pre-med and pre-dental students. According to Wang, there are about 500 current pre-health students at Occidental. Wang said 15 percent of advising sessions are with first-year students, and she continues working with them throughout college.
Dylan Abramyan ’25 had an experience consistent with this trend and said he had his first meeting with Wang during his early weeks of his first year, continuing to see her through his senior year medical school applications.
“It really helped demystify a lot of things,” Abramyan said. “There’s a lot that goes into this process and important deadlines you really don’t want to miss.”
12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Wang said lunchtime alternates between hosting Pre-Health Advising events and having meetings with administration or peer mentors. According to Wang, the peer mentor team includes four students of varying pre-health tracks and majors who hold individual drop-in hours, providing students with pre-health guidance.
“It’s a curated team that represents students from different perspectives that can speak to students from different backgrounds,” Wang said.
Alexa Poremba (senior), one of the four pre-health peer mentors, said she has been a peer mentor for one year, and was originally recruited by Wang. According to Poremba, Wang’s meetings are appointment-only, so peer mentor hours are a useful opportunity to stop by and ask questions.
“It helps to hear the perspective of a student,” Poremba said. “Relating on how classes are, [and] different opportunities.”
Poremba said while meetings with Wang can seem intimidating, it’s only because the pre-health process is scary itself.
“[Wang] is really supportive, she wants all of her students to succeed, and she will do whatever it takes to make you succeed,” Poremba said.
2 p.m.
Wang said she spends her afternoons configuring the range of events held by Pre-Health Advising. According to Wang, upcoming programs include an event with UCLA Medical School Nov. 13, alongside workshops and student panels. Wang said she also often hosts events with alumni or healthcare professionals from Occidental’s alumni network.
“I actively do outreach to talk to successful alumni who are actively practicing different healthcare roles or even in health profession schools,” Wang said. “I invite them to return to serve as industry expertise to share their career growth.”
Wang said it is important for alumni to show students how to be true to their college journey while navigating the medical school application process.
“[Alumni] come back to share their unique stories to our students, encouraging and empowering our students [so] that they too can be genuine to themselves,” Wang said. “They could enjoy college life, and study abroad and still be able to make it to med school.”
Abramyan said multiple alumni either attending medical school or who were in residency returned to Occidental to share advice. He said he found their words helpful as he completed his medical school applications.
“It seemed like the camaraderie at Oxy was very strong,” Abramayan said.
Wang said she also holds alumni advising sessions to help students identify their needs as they approach applications. Wang said they are especially attended by alumni two to three years post-graduation from Occidental.
6 p.m.–7 p.m. (Tuesdays)
On Tuesday evenings, Wang said she teaches the “Huntington-Occidental Pre-med Program (HOPP)” course alongside John Black, MD. According to Wang, the course is a practicum where students have class time at Occidental, volunteer at Huntington Hospital during the week and shadow doctors over the weekend.
“It’s a solid triangle supporting the needs of student development,” Wang said.
Wang also said she encourages students to reflect on Occidental’s immersion in the LA community.
“Our curriculum allows students to be cognizant of social determinants of health,” Wang said. “Through clinical exposure, while working with Huntington Hospital, Glendale Adventist or local community health centers, they were able to actively address some healthcare gaps or disparities through action.”
Wang said she enjoys working with students at different points of their pre-health timeline and helping them embrace their leadership identity.
“What excites me most is the continuous life cycle that I [am] able to work with students. I work with class of 2029, but I also work with class of 2022 who are applying to med school or health profession school,” Wang said. “I see them as emerging student[s] navigating stem and research, but ultimately finding a real voice and unique positioning in this field.”
Contact Zoe Pedvis at pedvis@oxy.edu
