New medical student Aleah Nguyen reflects on how VCU prepared her for this moment – starting in high school

By Grace McOmber
School of Medicine

For Aleah Nguyen, starting medical school this past summer is not just a dream come true, but the culmination of multiple opportunities at Virginia Commonwealth University that started in high school.

Born and raised in Henrico County, Nguyen began her journey to medicine approximately five years ago as a participant in the Project Academic and Clinical Experiences, also known as Project ACE, during her sophomore year of high school. Following a series of demanding pathway programs, Nguyen is back on the MCV Campus, and with the support of the Dorothy Velma Clark Loveall Scholarship, is prepared to tackle the newest step on her quest to become a physician.

"Being able to see what my future could look like as a high schooler truly sparked my interest in the field and gave me the confidence to pursue my dream," Nguyen said. "It confirmed that this is the path I was meant for."

Early exposure

Since 1995, Project ACE has served as an afterschool pathways program that exposes high schoolers to medicine as a career path and aims to prepare them for the undergraduate requirements of premedical programs. Over the course of nine to 10 weeks at the beginning of the year, high school participants meet on the MCV Campus every Friday for 90-minute sessions led by medical students, physicians and administrators.

About Project ACE

The curriculum purposefully exposes students to both the demands of medical school and its prerequisite undergraduate educational requirements, said Donna Jackson, Ed.D., associate dean of admissions outreach and engagement and leader of Project ACE. Participants learn principles of pathology, hear directly from current medical students and practice basic clinical skills in the Center for Human Simulation and Patient Safety. They also engage in college prep sessions highlighting how to write, read, learn and present at a collegiate level.

"We show them what their future can look like while also preparing them for the immediate next steps they can take to get there," Jackson said. "This program is about exploration, and we've had participants that go on to become physicians or work in other health professions. But I think even the determination that medicine might not be the right path for a participant is also a success."

While open to all 10th, 11th and 12th grade students at public and private schools in the Richmond area, Project ACE offers support for students who may lack access to other enrichment programs or opportunities. For students like Nguyen, the first in her family to pursue medicine as a career, pathway programs like Project ACE can help "get a foot in the door."

"We try to welcome students from a range of backgrounds, because I believe that you can learn from the people around you," Jackson said. "The goal is for these high schoolers to see themselves in a physician role and help them know that this is something that can be achieved."

'I knew this was the path I wanted to go down'

Nguyen was in her sophomore year at Henrico County's J.R. Tucker High School when she joined the 2021 Project ACE cohort. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participants met virtually to learn about the challenges and nuances of being a physician. One activity that stuck with Nguyen was reading "Living and Dying in Brick City," a memoir by an emergency medicine physician who returned to his hometown to work with underprivileged patient populations. In Zoom sessions led by Jackson, Nguyen and the other participants discussed the role of a physician in the community and how socio-economic barriers can prevent someone from receiving the care they need.

"At that time, when I thought about what it meant to actually be a doctor, I really only envisioned being in a clinical setting with patients," Nguyen said. "Having those discussions about how providers work together to care for their communities really opened my eyes."

Nguyen took that lesson back home with her and began volunteering at Henrico Doctors' Hospital that summer, getting a first-hand look at the day-to-day operations of community healthcare.

"Being in that environment and getting to talk with patients just solidified it for me," Nguyen said. "I knew this was the path I wanted to go down."

Nguyen graduated high school confident where she was headed. She was accepted into VCU's Preferred Applicant Track Program for Medicine, which prepares premedical Honors College students to apply for the Honors College Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine at the end of their sophomore year. Both programs require students to excel in a rigorous, science-heavy curriculum to prepare them for the demands of medical school. In between labs, research projects and running a STEM-focused undergraduate student interest group, Nguyen described her undergraduate experience as "go, go, go."

Most days, after her academic priorities were completed, Nguyen would drive across the city to MCV Campus to volunteer as a part of VCU Health's College Student Volunteer Program, an activity that helped her stay grounded.

She always enjoyed the hours spent in the pediatric hematology-oncology clinic at the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, hanging out in the lobby and play areas with patients and their families. Nguyen will never forget one little girl with whom she happily chatted about robots while playing board games. One day, a volunteer coordinator at CHoR handed Nguyen a handmade card from the patient with her name on it, surrounded by drawings of robots.

"That moment, and volunteering overall, helped me remember what I was working so hard for," Nguyen said.

A long time coming

Like many M1s, Nguyen described the past few weeks as "drinking from a firehose," and said she spent much of that time getting accustomed to the demands of medical school. With each passing day, Nguyen said she's felt increasingly comfortable in her new role as a medical student.

"As an undergrad, it's easy to feel intimidated when you're shadowing these super accomplished physicians and researchers," Nguyen said. "But now I see them in the classroom every day, so I'm really excited to find my voice as a student and feel confident pursuing new opportunities."

As she looks forward to the rest of medical school, residency and beyond, Nguyen said that reflecting on the time spent on Zoom after school as a teenager also means recognizing how far she's come.

"You can map out the path to get where you want to go, but you need to have belief in yourself to actually get there," Nguyen said. "I would tell high school me, 'You can do this.'"

This article was originally published on the School of Medicine website.