Five years out of high school, Janelle Dobson-Kocsis was still working in a dead-end food services job where she had to wear a ridiculous-looking uniform.

She wasn’t happy about it, but didn’t have the academic qualifications to attain her dream of becoming a psychiatric nurse.

And then she heard about SFU’s eight-month Aboriginal Pre-Health program at the Surrey campus, which helps Aboriginal youth acquire the academic prerequisites and personal success skills they need to gain acceptance into post-secondary health programs.

She enrolled in September 2012 and after taking nine academic and studies-skills courses she’s quick to acknowledge  the program changed her life.

“It gave me the confidence to take opportunities,” says Dobson-Kocsis, who belongs to the Teslin-Tlingit Nation’s Kwanlin Dun Band in Whitehorse, N.W.T. but grew up in New Westminster, B.C.

One of those opportunities has been her involvement this summer in SFU’s TAYBL program—Training for Aboriginal Youth in Biomedical Labs.

A research assistantship program initiated in the biology department and funded by Merck Canada, TAYBL offers mentorship and training that fosters Aboriginal students’ interest and success in the sciences. 

Dobson-Kocsis’ interest in psychology and psychiatry, however, didn’t quite fit into TAYBL’s focus on the biological sciences. So TAYBL founder, biology professor Felix Breden, introduced her to professor Elliot Goldner, founder of SFU’s Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA). He agreed to have Dobson-Kocsis join his research team as a TAYBL research assistant over the summer.

“This has opened up a whole new world for me of mental health care and research,” says Dobson-Kocsis. “I had wanted to get into psychiatric nursing because it was an easier door to enter, but this has shown me that I can do other things, like policy development and designing and implementing new healthcare systems, particularly for Aboriginal people.”

This summer, with encouragement from Goldner, she plans to write a mini-thesis examining the relationship between Aboriginal culture and healthcare services. 

In the fall, she’ll begin her psychiatric nursing degree at Douglas College, in preparation for returning to SFU to earn a graduate degree so that she can further pursue her research interests in a way that will contribute to the Aboriginal community.

“If it weren’t for the Aboriginal Pre-Health program,” says Dobson-Kocsic, “I wouldn’t be here today, I’d be wearing a silly hat and outfit while serving food.”