DE PERE (NBC 26) — The Medical College of Wisconsin-Green Bay has 25 incoming medical students.
All of the students, some of them from the Green Bay area, received their lab coats during a ceremony in Michels Ballroom at St. Norbert College on Tuesday.
The students are entering the medical field post-pandemic, while our country is battling a shortage of healthcare workers.
According to data from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. is in need of 17,000 primary care, 12,000 dental health, and 8,000 mental health practitioners.
NBC 26 asked two students — Abigail Swenson from Fergus Falls, MN, and Brandon Harrison from Mukwonago — why they want to be in the medical field.
"I started my clinical and hospital experience during COVID," Swenson said. "I think just seeing how vulnerable they were and how they weren't able to see their families, and how there was burnout, and dealing with that in undergrad and learning how to build resilient skills and be adaptable I think is something that we gained when we were an undergrad," Swenson said. "And I think we can bring that to healthcare."
"I worked at a nursing home," Harrison said. "I worked at a hospital. Just had a lot of great experiences working with people. And it was just really special to see how profound of an impact you can have on people."
Swenson said she is interested in going into women's health.
Harrison said he's leaning toward studying family medicine or primary care.
The incoming medical students are expected to graduate in 2026.
