Discovering non-traditional paths in health care
From student engagement to health research and quality assurance, Anajanaa shares how her experiences helped to shape her career path and why it’s important not to limit yourself during the job search.
Anajanaa Vimalathas (she/her) is a third-year Health Sciences student, specializing in Health Research, pursuing a minor in Psychology and working towards a diploma in French Language II. She reflects on how she leveraged her skills developed from her digital communication experiences to enter the world of health care and enhance patient education and outreach.
Anajanaa's co-op journey
Work term one: In her first work term, Anajanaa worked for the School of Public Health Sciences (SPHS) as a digital communications assistant. She had the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse team while enhancing her skills in communications and content creation. She covered all the pieces that go into social media, from filming and editing to managing channels and analyzing engagement metrics.
Work term two: Anajanaa is currently on her second work term in the Department of Medical Physics at the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) as a medical physics technician QA student. Here, she conducts routine quality assurance procedures on radiation therapy (RT) equipment and contributes to the research of cancer care disparities and development initiatives of RT technologies. She has been able to deepen her technical understanding of medical physics while also engaging in both non-clinical and research-based projects.
Q&A with Anajanaa
How has co-op helped you with your career goals?
Co-op has pushed me to step outside my comfort zone and test myself in diverse environments. I approached every opportunity with openness, applying to a wide range of positions rather than limiting myself to typical health-care roles.
This mindset has expanded my options to career paths I had never considered in health care beyond the traditional medical school route. It allowed me to explore roles in digital communications, research and non-clinical support, and ultimately expanded my vision on what other options exist.
These experiences have clarified my interest towards pursuing a career in oncology research through non-clinical avenues of patient care and innovation.
What has been the most rewarding thing about co-op?
For myself, it has been the opportunity to explore roles in health care beyond the traditional classroom discussions of becoming a doctor or going into health administration. I discovered that my skills could create a meaningful impact in different areas from improving student engagement at the School of Public Health Sciences to ensuring the safety of radiation equipment before patient treatments.
These experiences allowed me to see how my contributions matter in various aspects of health care. Surprisingly my role in medical physics, a job I never imagined myself in, became a very prominent and defining part of my career path.
Above all, I deeply value all the professional connections I’ve built with mentors who continue to guide and inspire my career path.
What kinds of challenges have you faced over your co-op journey?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced has been adapting to new environments and changes. Each work term comes with a learning curve, but my most recent co-op stood out because it wasn’t a typical 9-5 role, the hours ran from 1-9 p.m..
As someone who is actively involved in several extracurriculars, this definitely took a toll on me at first and the shift was difficult to adjust to. I was serving as president of the University of Waterloo Tamil Networking Association, a Faculty of Health ambassador, an editor with the Journal of Undergraduate Health Research, student research assistant at WRHN and a part-time peer success coach at the Student Success Office.
Leading a club requires a lot of behind the scenes work and constantly co-ordinating moving parts. The challenging part with that is it often doesn’t feel real until you see how the event plays out, which made the 1-9 harder because I couldn’t be present for many on-campus events. On top of that, juggling multiple responsibilities taught me that staying organized takes more than just a calendar, it also means knowing when to pause, reset and take breaks. It’s not just about scheduling every task but about pacing yourself and recognizing that downtime is just as important as productivity.
On top of that, I came into the position with no background in physics, which was intimidating at first. However, I realized I didn’t need to be an expert right away and what mattered the most was my willingness to learn. With the support of my supervisors who encouraged me to ask questions, I built confidence and stopped shying away from speaking up, even when I worried about being unsure.
Over time, I found ways to adapt. I started waking up earlier to use my mornings more intentionally for club work or personal tasks, and that helped me regain balance. That experience taught me how to manage my time more intentionally and that it is possible to balance things, even when it feels overwhelming.
What’s next for you?
I’m still exploring what I want my future to look like, but I know I want to stay involved in non-clinical areas of oncology care. I hope to pursue a position in health research, particularly as a project management lead for a sector in cancer care.
Some goals of mine before graduating are to co-author the publications I’m currently working towards, expand my experience in health research and continue to seek out mentorship and hands-on learning.
I'm focused on creating and finding opportunities for myself to expand my research experience, which entails learning more about cancer care, engaging with professionals and exploring non-clinical career paths.
