One of the most powerful things you can do for another is provide connection.
On Friday, February 2, a group of GSBA scholars on the pathway to healthcare careers got to experience just how powerful GSBA’s connectivity can be! Thanks to GSBA’s relationship with Fred Hutch Cancer Center, scholars were invited to South Lake Union for an afternoon of exploration.
Our first stop was a roundtable with nurses, social workers, and advocates at Fred Hutch. Here, we engaged in conversation about what a career path to Fred Hutch can look like. Scholars jumped right into questions, seeking to understand the work of cancer care, and tips for how to get their feet in the door. Though GSBA scholars are all still actively in their coursework, a job in an inclusive and engaging space is the end goal. The folks at Fred Hutch were honest about both their wins and challenges and encouraging scholars to keep showing up and persistently applying for opportunities.
Seeing a real Nobel Prize
Next on our tour was the Arnold Visitors’ Center to learn more about achievements in understanding cancer care, globally. It was right here in Seattle that Dr. Thomas, founding member of Fred Hutch, established bone marrow and blood stem cell transplantation as a lifesaving treatment. He transformed how the world treats leukemia and other blood diseases. Scholars were quite inspired by the Nobel Prize on view that acknowledges the impact of this discovery. Of course, we had to get a pic!
Real world experience, hands-on experiments
In the final stop on our tour, we donned lab coats and entered a training lab. On the road to understanding cancer and other blood-borne diseases is a wide range of sampling. We played with pipettes, moving our “blood samples” from paper blotters into testing tubes for view under the microscope. Here, we learned about how to progress accessibility of sampling to increase reach, and some of the discoveries being made as a result.
Connection and community at the heart of The GSBA Scholarship and Education Fund
We are grateful to live in a science-rich community, and doubly so for how supportive GSBA members like Fred Hutch are in helping our scholars make their impact. Thank you again to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center for hosting the GSBA scholars and helping to create real and lasting connections. You’ve got to see it to believe it, and GSBA scholars are jumping right in!
If you’re interested in hosting scholars or inviting them to explore career paths, please reach out to me here: stacyh@thegsba.org.
-written by Stacy Harbour-Van Hoy, Scholarship & Education Fund Program Manager
