Marly Banatte ’21 began an accelerated nursing program at the University of Pennsylvania this summer. She will be certified as a nurse practitioner when she completes the program, which can take up to three years. The Haverford psychology major aims to specialize in psychiatric and mental health or neonatal and women’s health nursing. Mostly, she is excited to be on the frontline lines of health care.
“Of course academics are important, but being able to be out there and working with patients closely is what I fell in love with,” said the psychology major.
Banatte was motivated to pursue nursing to address disparities in health that result from systemic problems like racism and wealth inequality. She was particularly inspired by a medical anthropology course she took during her first year at Haverford, which showed her how different regions of Philadelphia have different access to health resources.
“No one should be denied care or given less than adequate care because of where they live or how much money they have or the general ethnic demographic of where they live,” she said. “The location of Haverford especially really left an impact and solidified that this work needs to be done. We truly live in a bubble. I am so grateful for the opportunities and pleasures that have been available to me as a result, but if you do a short 20-minute drive east on Lancaster Avenue, you are really taken aback at how different everything is. It was really staggering and left me speechless.”
Banatte has applied to the Health Professionals Service Program Veterans Affairs. The program provides nursing school tuition and a stipend to accepted students, then after graduation, they work at Veterans Health Administration clinics, locations that serve current and former military personnel, for two years. Some day, Banatte hopes to sit on the International Council of Nurses, which discusses policies that directly impact healthcare disparities within a community.
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series chronicling the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates