Justin Smulik ‘25

Justin Smulik came to Pitt-Bradford knowing what he was interested in.

“I have always thought about emergency medicine,” the senior biology major said. After shadowing doctors while at home in Kittanning, Pa, he was sure.

“I just always took a liking to it,” he said. He’d grown up hearing about the world of medicine since his mother is a pharmacist. Now he has his sights on medical school.

Smulik came to Pitt-Bradford to earn a Pitt degree and play baseball for the Panthers. In his junior year, he added an EMT class to his academic and baseball time. The class allowed him to sit for certification, and during the summer before his senior year, he was able to gain more medical experience and work for the summer with Citizens’ Ambulance Service in Indiana, Pa., near his home.

“It’s opened a couple of doors for me,” he said. That includes working during the academic year with athletic trainers on campus. “I don’t have to find a job that’s super far away.”

To keep compiling medical hours, he volunteers with the Allegany (N.Y.) Rescue Emergency Medical Services.

New EMTs are often paired with those who are more experienced, and Smulik said he’s learned a lot by example. “As an EMT, I’ve learned about being able to think on my feet and how to talk with patients and their families.”

To strengthen his medical school applications, Smulik has also conducted research with Dr. Robin Choo, assistant professor of biology, to investigate the antimicrobial properties of medicinal herbs native to Northwest Pennsylvania.

For that project, he read existing literature, obtained extracts from plants and examined their antimicrobial properties using instruments on campus like those found in clinical laboratories.