Discovering Her Healthcare Goal

Two weeks before she was supposed to leave for a study abroad program in Italy her junior year, Cate Manos ’25 had an eye exam. It revealed a slightly swollen optic nerve, which led to tests and MRIs and a diagnosis of a brain tumor.

Instead of flying to Italy with her three best friends, Manos ended up in a 14-hour brain surgery to remove what turned out to be a benign but very large tumor, which started a series of surgeries and therapies that have continued for more than a year to address the impacts of the tumor and treatment.

“I had to do intensive occupational therapy and physical therapy for a few months, but through that, I got to work with amazing OTs. I learned so much about the body and what I want to do," Manos said. “I always knew I wanted to go into health care, because I love being able to help people and change people's lives, but after firsthand going through it every single day, my life changing at an occupational therapy appointment, I have a new appreciation for science and healthcare and nurses.”

Before her own immersion in the healthcare system as a patient, Manos had already started exploring the field as a profession while at Washington College. She had begun working with the Center for Career Development her first year, when all students are encouraged to begin working with the center on creating resumes and LinkedIn profiles, learning how to search for internships, and attend workshops. The summer after her first year, Manos shadowed some general practice physicians and pediatricians and determined that was not a path she wanted to pursue. 

Back at Washington and meeting with the career center’s Executive Director Nanette Cooley at the start of her sophomore year, Manos began looking for other healthcare careers. Cooley helped her find various other externship and internship opportunities, pointing her towards one at Mercy Medical Hospital in Baltimore that she got to do the following summer.

“I got to work with a bunch of different nurses in the hospital, learn from nurses and physicians about working together and different specialties, and work with patients and see what it's like working in a hospital,” Manos said. “The nurses really took me under their wing and really wanted to help me learn and to see what their life is like day-to-day. I definitely feel like I really connected with them, and it was cool to see their different roles, what they do and how much of a difference in people's lives they're making every day.”

Manos began to consider the pre-nursing track in Washington’s Pre-Health Professions Program, for which her biology major is a perfect fit. But after the importance occupational therapy has had in her own recovery, Manos may shift to study either OT or physical therapy in graduate school. 

The Pre-Health Professions Program provides support to help Washington students enter all the fields Manos has considered and more, so even as she has homed in on exactly how she wants to contribute to the healthcare field, Manos has always been able to rely on Washington College to help her achieve her goals. 

— Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven