Why I Chose Healthcare: 2026 KU School of Health Professions graduates share what drives them

Graduates in the University of Kansas School of Health Professions are prepared to support patients facing everything from hearing loss to progressive lung disease. Others will use their skills to work for healthcare entities performing laboratory tests or managing patient records.  

Students from across Kansas, the United States and the world flock to KU Medical Center for the education they need to join the healthcare workforce. These learners come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common: a desire to care for their communities as physicians, nurses or other healthcare professionals.

Below, in this first of three news stories highlighting students graduating from KU Medical Center this week, three students from the KU School of Health Professions class of 2026 share their “why.”

Leonardo Flores

Hometown: Osawatomie, Kansas

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management

Why healthcare: “I wanted to help people,” Flores said. “I was always really interested in science, and I believed that in healthcare I could make my greatest impact.”

Flores initially considered nursing. But after more thought, he decided he wanted to work “behind the scenes” instead.

His older brother, Jorge, graduated from KU with degrees in health information management and health informatics. Flores is following in his footsteps.

Health information management involves collecting, managing and analyzing patient information for healthcare organizations. These professionals are key players in administrative operations, as well as quality and privacy in patient care. Flores said he likes analyzing data and improving workflow. And he likes the idea of being the point of communication between clinicians and technology. 

He’s already practiced some of his skills through an on-campus internship with The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

“Even though (health information management professionals) may not be clinical or at the bedside, we are still working every day trying to make improvements for an organization as a whole,” he said.

What’s next: Flores is one of the first students admitted to KU’s new Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management to Master of Science in Health Informatics Joint Accelerated Degree program. He’ll complete remaining coursework this fall, earning his master’s degree in December.

Amanda Assis

Hometown: Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

Degree: Doctor of Audiology

Why healthcare: While exploring college majors, Assis observed several healthcare professionals at work in their fields.

At an audiologist’s office, Assis saw a 50-year-old woman with long-term hearing loss receive her first hearing aids. The patient’s daughter, in her 20s, was with her. The patient began crying and explained that — for the first time in her life — she could hear her own daughter’s voice.

“She started to cry, I started to cry, everyone was crying,” Assis said. “I saw her happiness and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s what I want to do.’”

Assis earned her undergraduate degree and began working as an audiologist in Brazil. But she felt her knowledge wasn’t enough. The best audiology research seemed to come from the United States, and she knew college professors who had gone there to study. She decided to go, too.

But she had to learn English first, starting at the age of 33. Assis moved in with a cousin in New Jersey and took classes to learn the language before applying for graduate school.

What’s next: Assis is working as an audiologist in Ituporanga, Santa Catarina, Brazil. She hopes to gain experience, save money and eventually return to her hometown and open her own clinic.

In Brazil, healthcare is government-funded so everyone can access it. However, Assis said there’s a shortage of adequately trained specialists in audiology.

With her doctorate from KU, Assis is qualified to fill that void.

“They don’t have enough providers there,” she said. “I was like, ‘I need to do something, I need to learn more, I need to help them.’ In my mind, health is for everyone.”

Sabine Jean-Philippe

Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care

Why healthcare: Curiosity drew Jean-Philippe toward respiratory care. The more she learned, the more she realized how important these specialized providers are.

“You literally deal with a patient’s breathing,” she said. “We’re on the front line of critical care.”

Jean-Philippe hopes to provide a “safe space” for patients, especially those who are wary of the healthcare system or face obstacles accessing care.

She has experience with these kinds of patients, both urban and rural.

Jean-Philippe attended high school in Kansas City’s urban core and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Iowa State University. She returned to Kansas City and worked as an assistant at a nonprofit healthcare clinic. There, her fluency in Creole — Jean-Philippe’s parents and grandparents are from Haiti — enabled her to communicate with some of the clinic’s immigrant patients.

As a U-CHaMP (Underserved Communities Have a Medical Provider) scholar, Jean-Philippe participated in the School of Health Professions’ first rural residency program. In her 12 weeks at a pulmonary rehabilitation clinic in southeast Kansas, she gained clinical experience helping patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and assisted with KU Medical Center research being done through the clinic.

What’s next: Jean-Philippe will work as a respiratory therapist at The University of Kansas Health System. After gaining experience in Kansas City, she’s considering working in a rural area.

“I love (working in) underserved communities,” she said. “That’s where my heart is.”