Jewish Health Network

Written by Erica Sacoransky, Student, Hillel UofT

At the beginning of the school year, I founded a club at UofT called the Jewish Health Network, that allows students with an interest in healthcare related careers to gather information and network with professionals. It also provides a social outlet for students to meet other like-minded students. The slogan that I created for this club is “aspire, engage, connect”, as it touches on the three benefits that I hope members will take away from this club. Aspire – realize your interests in order to reach your full potential, engage – gather information and ask questions, connect – network with other students and healthcare professionals. It is my hope that this club will provide a forum that will help students decide on their future career and clarify the path to get there.

On October 23, 2014, I attended an event at the Jewish Health Network at York University called “How to get into Medical School”. At this event, Dr. Michael Bloom spoke about what it takes to be accepted into medical school. He spoke about academic requirements, research, extra-curriculars and much more. I found this to be very informative and valuable. That particular night, I had another social engagement midtown following that event and I found the logistics of getting to and from the event challenging after a full day of classes downtown. They always say that an idea comes from experiencing a challenge, which is when I had the idea to start a Jewish Health Network for students studying in the downtown core. With the support of Hillel, we hosted our first event of the year, “Schmooze with Jews: A Panel Discussion with Healthcare Students/Professionals,” on January 21, 2016. This was a free event for all students who attended. The agenda for the evening included a panel led by seven students/professionals in the following fields: dietetics, allied health, medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and PhD, followed by breakout sessions. The breakout sessions allowed students to speak one-on-one with the panel members in their field of interest. Sushi and refreshments were served throughout the evening. Students who attended voiced positive feedback about the information they gained and the connections they made. I am very excited about the future success of this club and all of the invaluable opportunities that Jewish Health Network Toronto will offer to students.

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