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A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
Post-Secondary Planning Q&A WITH
Noam Raiter
Mediaplanet sat down with Noam Raiter on how she found a worklife balance between being a resident doctor and influencer. What are your career goals and how did you decide what you wanted to study? My aspiration to become a physician started when I was five years old based on interactions with the medical system. I am fortunate to lead a normal and healthy life today but these early life experiences played a large role in sparking my interest in this career. These aspirations were validated when I was in high school and fell in love with the sciences and found my passion for leadership. I completed my undergraduate degree in neuroscience and found my interest in mental health. When I entered medical school, I was pretty convinced I would end up in Psychiatry but I quickly found a greater passion for preventive care and a holistic full-body approach to both mental and physical health. With that, I decided to complete my residency in Family Medicine which would allow me to practice medicine with these passions at the forefront. Aside from my job as a physician, I also am a content creator on social media. My content focuses on the importance of wellness, work-life balance, and humanizing the experience of medical training. Creating a platform online has allowed me to connect with so many fellow students, physicians, and other young professionals and I have found so much joy in sharing my journey and hopefully inspiring others along the way. I am currently in my final year of residency and although I don’t know exactly what my plans are for medical practice post-grad, I hope to find a way to fuse all my passions and interests in a way
that benefits not only my immediate patients but also the greater community.
How do you balance your work as a resident doctor with your career in social media? There are a few key reminders that have helped me find balance throughout my two careers in medicine and on social media. Number one, balance is not always “50/50”. There are some weeks where I am working 80 hours a week at the hospital and I barely post a story on Instagram. There are others where I have more free time and can post more and batch-create content to post at a later date. Don’t beat yourself up if you aren't doing everything “perfectly” all of the time. That brings me to number two, organization is key! Find whatever methods work for you but I love creating to-do lists and having a color-coded calendar synced across all my devices. Number three, make sure to still prioritize your well-being despite how busy you may be. For me, this looks like going to a workout class a few times a week, eating foods that keep me energized, and finding time for my hobbies like baking and pottery. I can’t expect to be my best self either at work as a doctor or online as a creator if I don't take the time to fill up my own cup first.
Do you have any advice for students deciding on a career path? Don’t try to squeeze yourself into boxes that other people have designed. As we get into higher education, people may often tell us to “focus” and “minimize distractions outside of school”. Of course, these things are important but at the same time, there is so much value in being multi-passionate. Find ways to fuse your passions and let them support
Follow Noam on Instagram @noamraiter.
Q&A WITH
Icess
Mediaplanet spoke with influencer, and recent graduate, Icess to get her insight on juggling post-secondary life. How did you decide what you wanted to study in university? When I was in high school, choosing a university program felt like one of the biggest life decisions I had to make thus far. It is also one of those things that feel like there is only one right answer. But what is the right answer? My whole life I wanted to head into either the field of health or pursue a career in entertainment (i.e. music, acting, modeling, content creating, etc.). But both those fields were so drastically different, I had no clue which one I should prioritize in university. At the time, I thought the smart decision would be to pursue health and continue my love of all things entertainment as a hobby. And maybe one day my dreams of pursuing entertainment would be a reality somewhere in the future. And that it did! I am a firm believer in achieving your dreams while also being in school. Now that I am older, I’ve realized that it never has to be one dream or the other. I finished school and have a job in content creating and I encourage others to chase their dreams while receiving an education as well. I would like to mention that I did not choose my university program alone. Feeling stuck about your future is a common feeling and one of the best ways to overcome this is through a strong support system. My mom has always been the biggest piece to my support system and with her help, she made my high school to university transition so smooth.
Not only did she help me in choosing my program, she helped me understand how and why it was a good program for me. Sometimes moms do know best!
Do you have any advice for incoming students? My biggest word of advice to any incoming students would be to follow their instincts and chase their dreams without thinking Follow Icess on Instagram about anyone else’s expectations. Going off to @iamicess and on university is an exciting and new experience, but TikTok @icessr. do it for yourself and not for the approval of others. If you have a dream or a goal that you want to achieve in University then do it without hesitation. There is no dream that is too big and there is certainly no dream that cannot be done simply because you are in school. I totally understand that school is time consuming and demanding, but don’t ever let this deter you from achieving what you desire. Write down your goals, organize your schedule in a way that prioritizes these goals, and keep going. If you ever find yourself struggling, don't be afraid to reach out for help. Don’t ever let anyone belittle your dreams and always strive to be the best version of yourself.
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