August 28, 2025

Being a health care professional while in college can be exhausting — classes, clinicals or co-op all day long. On top of that, homework, class projects and exam stress. But after a 12-hour clinical shift taking care of others, who is taking care of you?

Drexel University students and roommates Whitney Nguyen and Isabella Mazuca are well aware of that. They have been studying nursing for three years and often try to relax in their living room after long and exhausting days of classes or clinicals. One day, they wanted a change.

“We felt the support from our nursing peers, but we were missing a sense of community. We wanted to build one to focus on mental and physical well-being for all health care professionals,” said Mazuca.

A big emphasis is on mental and physical well-being. The mission of the club is: "You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of others.”

“We felt that there is a disconnect between putting others' health at the forefront and taking care of ourselves,” said Nguyen.

Mazuca and Nguyen have organized pilates and yoga sessions, pickleball games, movie nights, creative therapy meetings or coffee walks that are aimed at tackling this problem for students in health sciences, nursing or physical therapy.

“Being a part of such a rigorous academic program, no matter your major, it can get really exhausting and coming to these events … it really helps you to release stress,” said Nguyen.

“If we have an event at 7 p.m., take that time to meet your community and take advantage of what we offer because even that one hour might recenter you and clear your mind if you have been studying all day, or doing clinicals,” said Mazuca.

A challenge the club is facing is meeting all the different schedules. Nguyen and Mazuca make sure that their events are offered on different weekdays and different times to allow as many people to attend as possible.

Drexel MedFit offers one event per week but hopes to hold up to three events a week soon.

“Our main goal is to put our own events out there but also to collaborate with other student organizations to bring in diversity,” said Nguyen.

In the past, Drexel MedFit has organized events together with Drexel’s Student Nurses Association (DUSNA) and the Drexel Pre-PA club. Social media plays a huge role in promoting their events and creating partnerships. Through Instagram and DragonLink, students can sign up for events and find all the necessary information they need to attend.

For many first-year students, arriving on campus brings along a lot of uncertainty. Meeting new people can be a struggle for freshmen who lack a community. During Welcome Week, Drexel MedFit will organize events to meet and connect with Drexel’s newest health care professionals, something Nguyen and Mazuca wished they could have taken advantage of back when they were freshmen. Now, three years later, they’re helping create the sense of belonging they once longed for.

Story and photography by Raphael Bartell, communication '27