Finding meaning in medicine

“I was homeschooled, but I didn’t apply myself,” Ustick said. “I never thought I would come to college.”

Instead, he planned to pursue a trade and tried different types of work — in siding, windows, landscaping and concrete — for three years, searching for his path.

“With everything, I always wanted more,” Ustick said.

An avid runner and hiker, Ustick decided to become a physical therapist and began attending the University of Cincinnati Clermont College’s physical therapist assistant program as a launch point. When Ustick’s anatomy and physiology professor, Karen Mathis, invited health professionals to speak to his class about their jobs, he noticed a common thread among them.

“Every one of them chose to do something they enjoyed doing, even though it was hard,” said Ustick. “That stuck with me.”

The Cronin Career Scholars program collaborates with on-campus and community organizations to create local internships. Students work part time, learn professional skills and apply what they learn in the classroom to the workplace — in real time. It is the first paid internship program of its kind available to UC Clermont students.

Ustick studied microproteins in the hospital’s cardiology lab — and was ready for the challenge.

“I enjoy physiology and science and want to use this knowledge to diagnose and help people — to change lives — in meaningful ways. Getting hands-on experience now makes it all more real,” said Ustick. “I’m looking for a career that has an impact.”

Learn more about the Cronin Career Scholars co-op program.

Featured image at top: UC Clermont pre-medicine graduate Luke Ustick conducts research in the college's cancer lab. Photo/Danny Kidd