Spotlight: Teja Sebastian – Health Careers Mentorship Program

Tell us about yourself:

My name is Teja Sebastian and I am
a Junior Biology major as well as a
member of the intern class.

In addition to HCMP, I am also involved
in Texas Bluebonnets, Reading Aces,
and Health Science Scholars.

I would like to become a doctor because
of my volunteering experiences at the
Agape Clinic and Children’s Medical Center
in Dallas, in which I witnessed some of the
health disparities in my own community.

Pursuing medicine means the opportunity to reduce inequities in healthcare and use preventive care to encourage access to healthcare. HCMP gives me the opportunity to learn more about the public health issues that I would like to address in my future career through unique experiences such as the State Department rotation. I also have the opportunity to learn about new areas of medicine I had never even heard of before. For example, I shadowed a retinologist, and had the chance to learn about the variety of specialties within the field of ophthalmology. I was surprised to learn about the wide variety of conditions he treated that morning despite having specialized in such a specific part of the body. I also had the chance to hear about the clinical trials conducted in the same office. I loved hearing about how he was working to help his patients through clinical research, performing surgeries, and seeing patients in the clinic.

My favorite aspect of HCMP so far has been getting to know other members and hearing about the shadowing experiences that have changed their view of medicine. In my free time, I enjoy baking, watching Bon Appetit videos, and watching the Bachelor.