From Biochemistry to Medicine: Following Your Passion as an Undergraduate Student

By Lydia Rotman

Published April 15, 2022

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Samantha Siefert is a third-year Biochemistry and Molecular Biology student at Michigan Technological University. She initially chose Michigan Tech because it has a smaller and more intimate campus than most other colleges. Sam has become involved in several organizations while at Michigan Tech, including the Biochemistry Club, where she served as vice president for two semesters and plans on stepping into the role of president next year. Sam is also excited about becoming a Biological Learning Center (BLC) coach next semester. In addition to biochemistry, Sam participates in the Theatre program on campus, where she has performed in several plays, including her most recent performance in “She Kills Monsters.”

More recently, Sam has decided to augment her degree with a minor in Psychology and is now considering adding a second minor in Pre-Health Professions. After taking a few Psychology classes at Michigan Tech, Sam has become interested in becoming a psychiatrist. By adding these two minors, Sam is shifting her education so that she may be better prepared to enter the medical field. After having gone through the transition of tailoring her education to her goals, Sam recommends talking with advisors and professors about your goals. She says “Huskies are curious” and staff and other students are excited to help people answer their questions.

In addition to all of her extracurricular activities and classes, Sam does research in Dr. Goetsch’s molecular genetics lab on campus. For the last three years, Sam has been working with other undergraduate and graduate students to characterize two cell cycle regulatory proteins: retinoblastoma protein and p130. Sam also won a Songer Research Award for Human Health Research to pursue an experiment that would use antibodies to tag and image the presence of these two proteins in samples. In the last couple of weeks, she finalized her research and presented a poster presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium (USR) on the lab’s findings, and she will present her findings again to the panel for the Songer award. Sam says that while biochemistry isn’t the career path she’s aiming for anymore, the experience has helped her explore and obtain a deeper understanding of the biochemistry field.

Looking forward, Sam plans to finish her last year at Michigan Tech by preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). After graduation, she plans to take the MCAT and go to medical school. Even though she’s nervous about the future, she's thankful for the resources available to her as an undergraduate student at Michigan Tech.