Hi there! My name is Emily Valentin (she/her/hers) and I am from Buffalo Grove, IL. I graduated from Harvard College in May 2020, where I studied neuroscience, and will attend medical school next year. I play the saxophone, have two miniature dachshunds, enjoy baking, and love to watch reality TV and sitcoms!

In NHC Chicago and beyond, I am interested in learning how education and medicine are intertwined. Experiences like teaching volunteer saxophone lessons--and growing up as a teacher’s daughter--have shown me the potential that education has to be a force for good. I believe that quality education gives people the tools to understand themselves and their worlds; quality medicine involves education, which gives people the tools to understand their bodies and their health!

Serving with Heartland Health Centers as a Health Educator has been incredibly eye-opening already. As part of my role, I provide 1:1 health education sessions where I discuss nutrition, exercise, and related topics with people. (This has been largely over the phone or through video call due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) In those sessions, it is clear that Heartland providers already have shared plenty of relevant health education with their patients; I serve as an extra resource to answer any lingering questions, or provide individualized support in regards to healthy lifestyles. Additionally, my fellow Heartland AmeriCorps members and I run an HHC school-based health center (SBHC) social media account in an effort to bring health education to the fingertips of our Instagram followers and Heartland SBHC students.

Overall, I have already learned so much at HHC. Being a part of the educational thread that runs through primary care at Heartland has been really neat, and has me considering primary care as a potential career path! I am excited to continue learning, both through my role at Heartland and as a member of NHC Chicago.