Bio-chemistry major Winter Williams was an intern for CVS Pharmacy where she enjoyed the interactions between the pharmacists and patients.

“I liked working with the medications and filling out prescriptions and calculating a patients daily supply,” Williams said.

Besides working as a pharmacist, she also has an interest in being either a podiatrist or an optometrist.

Western University of Health Sciences is a school that are looking for students like Williams who have a strong interest in working in the medical field.

Western University recruiter Christy Ho arrived to the Cerritos College campus to spark up student interest in the university on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

The school caters to students who are seeking their masters and above.

Boasting 22 academic programs, Western Univerisity also has a Patient Care Center where they service the city of Pomona, Calif.

The school is currently undergoing various research on stem cells, bioinformatics, cancer, cardiovascular disease, drug design and delivery, and genetics and development.

The university has a Interprofessional Education where first or second year students can take a one-unit pass or no pass course working with eight other students from eight different departments, allowing students to learn more beyond their own department that they are studying.

Ho covered departments such as being a doctor in Osteopathic Medicine, Physical Therapy, Podiatric Medicine, Pharmacy, Optometry, Dental, Veterinary Medicine and Nursing.

Ho recommended that students wanting to get into the medical field should consider becoming a podiatrist.

“Podiatry (specializing from the knee below) is a very small field. That means that there is less competition from when you graduate compared to the other departments and the pay is very good too, with a starting salary of $150,000.”

Ho also informed students that they are able to overshadow a podiatrist.

“We are very well connected and can find any podiatrist that would be willing to take you on.”

Podiatry is not the only department that pays well. For students who become doctors in any of the departments mentioned, they can begin with salaries ranging from $76,000 to around $120,000+. For those who studied nursing, that pays well also with $85,000 being the average salary in California.

Ho sparked interest in the audience by talking about optometry and how doctors in that field can see the patient’s condition by just looking into their eyes, especially finding diseases.

Becoming a dentist was another option that Ho presented to students, showing them that the dental practice will have 66,000 job openings in the next 10 years accompanying the field’s 20 to 28 percent growth rate.

Western University also includes a nursing program.

“We are looking for approximately 1.2 million new nurses in the U.S. We have a master’s program and since nurses nowadays do more than what they used to 50 years ago, there is a bigger push now for nurses to get more education to stay more competitive.”

Williams said, “I’m glad I went to this seminar, I definitely got a better understanding of the school and I think that it’s a viable option for me.”