By Kayla Garner, Staff Writer
Hardin-Simmons University seniors, Natalie Nelcamp and Elizabeth Pullman, are future health career professionals who will soon graduate from HSU and head to graduate school to further their education.
Nelcamp is graduating from HSU with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in both biochemistry and honors. Nelcamp is pursuing a career in pharmacy. She has recently been accepted to Campbell University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences located in Buies Creek, N.c, where she will be working to earn her Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
She chose to pursue a career in pharmacy after her experiences during a program at her high school, which allowed her to do an internship at a hospital in her area. “Just seeing how they worked and how they were involved with the community, with outpatient care, [and] the more critical side of things, just all that together really sparked an interest,” said Nelcamp.
Nelcamp is extremely passionate about her future career in pharmacy. According to her, the role of a pharmacist is extremely important for each patient’s health.
“One of the main reasons there is such a high hospital turnover is because there is not enough focus given to outpatient care and outpatient education. Patients leaving the hospital often don’t know what to do with their medication, or how to properly take it. They often don’t have direct access to their doctor to come back and ask questions, so their main point of contact is their pharmacist. I think that pharmacists have a great responsibility and a great opportunity to be huge contributors to their communities, and [are there] to make sure that their patients know what their medications do, that they are on the right medication, and they are properly taking care of themselves,” Nelcamp said.
Pullman is also graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biology and is minoring in public health, music and honors. She is pursuing a career as a Physician Assistant by seeking to earn her PA-C degree from the newly instituted Hardin-Simmons University’s PA program.
“I want to be a PA because I want to positively impact people’s lives through medicine and quality patient care interactions,” Pullman said.
Pullman chose to attend HSU’s PA program after her experience with the program in the Dominican Republic. “In May of 2019, I had the opportunity to accompany the HSU PA program on their mission trip to the Dominican Republic. By witnessing the mission of the PA program firsthand, I was able to discern that this was a program that I would love to be a part of, in order to continue my post-graduate education. Ultimately, I chose HSU’s PA program because it values both faith and works,” Pullman said.
Both of these women have a bright future career in the health care field ahead of them. However, they may still face a few challenges in their career because of their gender, such as pay differences between men and women.
Nelcamp and Pullman were both asked if they thought sexism still existed in the field of medicine..
“While I cannot speak as a person who is currently working in the healthcare field, I hope that any form of sexism that is still present throughout career fields, including healthcare, is properly addressed and put to an end. I believe that as a society and as a culture, we are moving towards being more accepting and further away from discrimination, which gives me hope moving forward,” Pullman said.
“It definitely still happens, or it wouldn’t be an issue that we still talk about. Hopefully, it is on the decline in most practices. It [sexism] definitely is [an issue] in regard to leadership. There is a severe gap in how many men and how many women are in those leadership roles in hospitals, clinics and just in the profession in general,” Nelcamp said.
Both Nelcamp and Pullman celebrate their right to work in the medical field and would defend themselves against anyone who told them they could not practice, simply because they are not a man.