Career Chat: Healthcare

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In this episode of Career Chat, I talk with Dr. Agnes Lau, a former hospital-based dentist who spent 38 years in the field and rose to chief of dentistry at Mass General Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard Dental School. In this episode, she will share what first drew her into healthcare, her priority for work-life balance, and her enjoyment of interacting with people. She will also talk about the rewards of long-term patient relationships, the challenges of learning the business side on the job, and how technology like AI is changing the field.

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In this episode of Career Chat, pharmacist Mr. Darryl Leong takes us through his unexpected road to healthcare — starting as an economics major at UC Berkeley before pharmacy pulled him in. He walks through the jobs that shaped his career, from Kaiser in Walnut Creek and Oakland to his current role at Walgreens in San Francisco, and gets real about the pressures of the job, from juggling prescriptions to working around a 24/7 schedule. He also weighs in on where he thinks AI is taking the profession, and leaves students with practical advice on finding real-world exposure before committing to a path in healthcare.

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In this episode of Career Chat, we speak with Dr. David Lee, who spent over 25 years running his own pediatric dentistry practice in San Francisco's Chinatown before transitioning into teaching at the University of the Pacific. He shares how he found his way into dentistry, why working with kids became his specialty, and what it takes to thrive in the field. Dr. Lee also offers candid advice for students still exploring healthcare, from shadowing professionals to figuring out what really interests them.

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Careers in healthcare don't always follow a straight path — and Alisa Yee's is proof of that. In this episode of Career Chat, we speak with Alisa Yee, Director of Operations at UCSF, where she now oversees a team of over 1,000 healthcare professionals. Alisa's career began as a bedside nurse and later grew into a role as a nurse practitioner in surgical oncology before she transitioned into healthcare leadership. She shares the experiences that first drew her to medicine, what her role involves day to day, and the challenges and rewards of working in a large, complex health system. Alisa also offers practical advice for high school students interested in healthcare careers, including how to explore the field without hospital access and why it's okay for a career path to change over time.

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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Marcus Leong, an emergency medicine physician in San Francisco with over 20 years of experience. He shares how he found his way into medicine without a clear plan, why he chose the fast pace of emergency medicine, and why the people you work with matter just as much as the job itself. Dr. Leong also gives advice for students still figuring things out, like staying open-minded and talking to as many people as you can.