King’s journalism school grad (’12) Chelcie Soroka is from a military family, so she spent her growing up years moving back and forth between England and Canada. She is used to changing direction. But her acceptance into Dalhousie medical school caught most of her Journalism School professors and classmates by surprise.
“I kept it to myself,” says Chelcie. “Medical school is so tough to get into. I didn’t want to tell everyone that I was applying and then not get in.”
She may have surprised a few people, but med school has long been part of Chelcie’s plan. “I knew I wanted to be a doctor from the time I was 13. But you need a degree before you can apply, and I wanted my first degree be something that could lead to a fulfilling career on its own. I’ve always been interested in journalism and the news, so journalism was the right choice for me.”
At the same time as following the J-School program, Chelcie prepared for her MCATs by taking sciences as her electives. When it came time to write the medical school entrance essays, Chelcie felt her journalism training made those pieces of writing stronger.
If her medical school application had not been successful, Chelcie says she would have pursued a career in science and health care reporting. But she has not turned her back on the skills she has spent the last four years honing. Chelcie believes that her journalism training will make her a better doctor. “Journalism has a place in medicine because communication is such a big part of being a doctor. My studies have taught me how to ask difficult questions and to convey complicated information in a straightforward way. Those skills will be very useful when dealing with patients and in writing medical articles.”
