Experiential Learning at UD

By Christopher Miller

The Office of Experiential Learning (OEL) was delighted to host a vocational workshop in February for several students in Dr. Zaiba Malik’s MED 480 capstone seminar. This workshop was centered around the different ways people can discover their vocation.

Vocation is central to the University of Dayton’s vision and mission. Vocation means  answering a call to discover one’s talents and using them to serve other people or even the world. Finding vocation is a valuable goal because it is something that not only helps bring meaning to one’s life, but also contributes to the well-being of the common good. There are many experiences that could guide one’s path to discovering their vocation. Classes, hobbies, and internships, are just a few things that could cultivate skills and goals to inspire vocation.

Several of Dr. Malik’s undergraduate medical students attended this workshop to discuss their personal vocational journeys. These students were senior pre-dentistry major Breandan Rosolia, senior pre-medicine major Maria LaBello, and senior pre-medicine major Minh Ho. These students have participated in many experiential learning (EL) opportunities over their years at UD. Volunteering at Dayton Children’s Hospital, career shadowing, and community engagement were several experiences that came up in conversation.

During the lab, we discussed the impact that EL can have on a person’s identity. Maria talked about her experiences at Dayton Children’s Hospital. After a few weeks at the hospital, she noticed significant how many individuals came to the hospital with asthma. She had heard about the rise of asthma in the area previously, but experiencing it made a powerful impact on her. She started to do more research on the issue and it slowly became a bigger part of her vocation and passion for medicine. This experience pushed her to minor in sociology so she could better understand the needs of a community.  

“I was able to apply the skills I learned in class to my experience of understanding what patients are going through then helping them,” Maria said.

Breandan told us about his experience shadowing a dentist. He really enjoyed shadowing this dentist because of their honest conversations. One day Breandan’s mentor told him of a time when he was doing poor academically, but pushed through and succeeded. This story connected with Breandan because around that time he had a conversation with his advisor about a possible career switch due to academic performance.

“It was nice to see a professional with similar experiences who was open to talking about it. Hearing that led me to the realization that just because you fail at something doesn’t mean you fail at everything,” Breandan explained. He went on to discuss how the relationship with his mentor gave him leadership skills which helped him plan philanthropy events with his fraternity. Breandan’s story is a great example of how a person can apply lessons they have learned to different areas of their life.

Minh told us of her experience as a medical scribe for Dayton Children’s Hospital. The biggest lesson she learned during her experience revolved around sacrifice and dedication. Seeing the hard work doctors around her were putting in for their patients on a daily basis made her realize there is a lot that goes into this practice. Giving up breaks, working long hours, and sacrificing time with their family is something most of the doctors went through. “It was rough being awake and working at 3 a.m., but seeing a patient come in for help is super exciting,” Minh said. Despite the sacrifices, long hours, and stress doctors face on a daily basis, she decided it is all worth it considering how helpful the profession is to families and communities.

It was amazing to hear these powerful stories of EL and its effects on the student mind. These medical students gained a sense of their vocation from participating in various learning experiences during their time at UD. The three students created visual representations of their vocational journey at UD called roadmaps. Look below to see how diverse opportunities have shaped them into the people they are today.

If you would like to sign up for an EL lab, feel free to contact Karen Velasquez at kvelasquez1@udayton.edu.