Many students spend their high school years trying to figure out what life after school looks like, but for junior Mackenzie Thompson, healthcare has always been the answer. Ever since she was little, Kenzie has been surrounded by family in many forms of healthcare. 

“Growing up, I watched my grandpa as he was the President of Clarkson College and originally opened UNMC, and that kind of sparked my interest, and then just going up to the hospital to see my dad at work also got me interested,”

Outside of growing up around healthcare, Kenzie possesses the knowledge and grit to pursue a highly successful healthcare career. 

“Kenzie has a strong work ethic, which is extremely important in health care. Additionally, she is very compassionate, which is important. There is a difference between taking care of a patient as a job and taking care of people as a career. The best providers care for their patients and make people feel safe. Kenzie will be that type of provider,” Kenzie’s father, Clark Thompson said.

Clark is an anesthesiologist at Midwest Eye Care, and having connections in health care allowed Kenzie to have an amazing opportunity to intern with her father this summer.

“I think this internship really allowed me to shadow a lot of different people in the medical field, from surgeons to scrub techs to nurses and everything in between.” During her long days at the hospital this summer, Kenzie performed a wide range of tasks alongside her dad. She found herself watching eye surgeries, turning over operating rooms, cleaning out patient bays, folding linen, taking out trash, and also helping prep ORs, as well as assisting people to scrub in and scrub out. Getting to witness the difficulties of healthcare was extremely eye-opening for Kenzie, but it did not steer her away from the challenges she will face if she decides to pursue healthcare. 

“I think you have to be very determined to work in healthcare, with being in school for so long and the hours and schedules that you have, you really have to love it and give up a lot for it, so I think it’s super important to be determined and very particular about a lot of things,” Kenzie said. 

Working in a high-stress environment is not suitable for everyone, but Kenzie has shown many qualities of being able to handle copious amounts of stress while remaining calm.

“I think she would enjoy anesthesia. She has a good mentality for taking care of patients and is extremely smart, so this career would suit her. Also, anesthesia has moments of very high intensity and requires immediate intervention and a strong knowledge base, so it would totally suit her personality,” Clark said. 

With just two years of high school left, Kenzie plans to continue experiencing many types of healthcare to see what fits her best, as well as continuing to expand her skill set and knowledge base so she can be as successful as possible in such a demanding field of work.