Alumni Spotlight

Broderick House graduated from The Bluff in 2018 with a BS in biology. While at UP, Broderick was active in research including the opportunity to take part in the Murdock Undergraduate Research Program. Through this experience, Broderick expanded his interest in research and was able to continue that work in the lab up at OHSU since graduation. Broderick is currently applying for graduate biomedical engineering programs around the country. We wish Broderick best of luck and continued success!

1. Please give a short description of your current position and your path to getting there:

By no means did I ever imagine myself being a research assistant in a biomedical engineering lab, let alone doing research. From an early age I wanted to be a doctor. However, volunteering within the ICU at OHSU exposed me to the hard reality that many patients die as a result of insufficient treatment methods. Later joining the Murdock Undergraduate Research Program during my junior and senior year, I came to learn that research was the answer to my frustration with medicine not having all of the answers. Over the course of my two years in the lab I have worked on developing new medical technologies in the space of image guided surgery as they pertain to cancer treatment. My job involves me working with people from all around the world, as well as many different types of doctors in order to aim our research towards changing the available technologies currently used in the clinical setting.

2. What is the best part of your current job?

The best thing about my job is that I not only get to use the information I learned while at UP, but I also get to continuously learn from doctors and scientists to create new technologies. What excites me as well about clinical research is that unlike a doctor who works on a patient by patient basis, my work is able to reach many patients at a time.

3. How did your time at UP help you with your career path? 

My time at UP helped me learn that there is more to the medical field than being a physician or a nurse. That may sound obvious, but many I have come in contact with have never fully grasped just how many opportunities there are within the field of medicine. My teachers, as well as the pre-med club and advising team helped me find to find opportunities, eventually leading me to find biomedical engineering.

4. What are your favorite memories of UP?

Some of my favorite memories from UP included attending events like soccer games, where I got to meet new people. People that I also had the opportunity to spend two weeks with in the Dominican Republic working with low income communities.

5. What advice would you give aspiring pre-health types?

I would say find what keeps you going, don’t knock it till you try it, and get as much insight from professionals as possible. Working in the medical field is more than just making money and helping patients.

There are a lot of aspects that aren’t highlighted, and there is a medical culture that is difficult to fully comprehend until you’ve learned about it first hand. For those of you reading this, I highly recommend looking into books by Atul Gawande as he provides a reliable and interesting insight into the world of medicine. Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande is one of my favorites, and gave me an accurate portrayal of medicine prior to shadowing or working in the hospital.