Who We Are
Mentors
Our mentors are UCSF graduate students from all five health professional schools: Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Physical Therapy, and Medicine. Each mentor is paired with a single high school student. During Saturday sessions, mentors accompany their mentees throughout the day's activities and workshops. Outside of Saturday sessions, mentors serve as a resource to help their mentees navigate high school and set them up for success in their academic and extracurricular endeavors.
Chelsie Anderson
UCSF School of Medicine, 1st Year Medical Student
Where is your hometown?
Roseville, CA
What high school or college did you/do you attend?
Granite Bay High School, 2008
San Francisco State University, 2013
What are your career goals?
I want to be a Trauma Surgeon, and eventually, head of the Department of Surgery.
What about Healthlink made you want to join?
High school was the time when I made the final decision to pursue medicine and I wanted to work with youth at this point in their life, a time when they begin to decide what they want to become in the future.
What was your favorite thing about your very first Healthlink meeting?
The Vital Vitals class! It was awesome to see how quickly the mentees picked up skills so commonly used in the medical field. I was amazed at how well mentors were able to field the students fascinating and wide-ranging questions.
What are some things that you are excited about for future Healthlink sessions?
I am excited to see how the mentees’ perceptions of the health care field change over the course of the year. I am most looking forward to having a great time with the mentees, proving to them that science can be both challenging and fun- as corny as that sounds, science gets a bad rap sometimes!
Have a fun fact/ trivia question about yourself?
I love heights! If I could sky dive every day, I would.
Mentees
Our mentees are high school students from communities around the Bay Area that seek to explore their interests in health professional careers. They are students that are motivated to pursue their dreams by attending college and beyond.
Ivy H. (high school student)
Where is your hometown?
I was born in San Francisco but I was raised in Caracas, Venezuela until 3rd grade (I returned to SF in the beginning of third grade).
What high school or college did you/do you attend?
I am attending George Washington High School
What are your career goals?
I am not set on the medical field but the field of surgery interests me the most right now.
What about Healthlink made you want to join?
The program was described as a very hands-on experience which sounds like a lot of fun. It was interesting to hear that I would get to meet students from the UCSF and learn from them.
It seemed like a great way to get introduced into the medical field and determine if it is the path I want for my future.
What was your favorite thing about your very first Healthlink meeting?
Meeting the students, learning about each of their individual stories and hopes for the future.
The team bonding activities were exciting and an awesome way for us to interact and connect.
What are some things that you are excited about for future Healthlink sessions?
I am excited to about getting a picture of the heart with ultrasound, and getting to know each of the different options there are for careers in health.
Have a fun fact/ trivia question about yourself?
I speak Spanish fluently and I broke my knee cap running half a lap in PE.
Lena Y. (high school student)
Where is your hometown?
San Francisco
What high school or college did you/do you attend?
I am currently attending Burton High School and would like to attend UCLA.
What are your career goals?
My career goals are to get as much life experience as I can and have fun while doing so.
What about Healthlink made you want to join?
The opportunities to explore careers in health care.
What was your favorite thing about your very first Healthlink meeting?
I love learning new things, meeting other like-minded students from around the Bay Area, and the food!
What are some things that you are excited about for future Healthlink sessions?
I am excited to learn even more about health and make even more friends!
Have a fun fact/ trivia question about yourself?
I love watching the Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy.