Student spotlight: Katie Berky

Education is one of the four pillars of UNMC’s mission and our students are the lifeblood of that aspect of campus life.

In UNMC Today’s Student Spotlight, we get to know some of these students, who will become tomorrow’s health care professionals.

Today we meet:

• Name: Katie Berky
• Hometown: Elkhorn, Neb.
• Program/Year: Third-year medical student

List three songs on your playlist.

• “Wake Me Up,” Avicii
• “No Light, No Light,” Florence and the Machine
• Anything by Enya (don’t judge me, you know you do listen to her, too)

What sparked your interest in medicine?

I was always interested in health care, but originally approached it from the global health policy and non-profit angles. Over time, I realized I wanted to be making daily impacts on the lives of others and not from a 30,000-foot perspective. The tipping point was attending my brother’s med school graduation here at UNMC and thinking, “That’s it, that’s the one thing that will challenge me and satisfy me professionally for a lifetime.” Two and a half years in, it has not disappointed.

Your favorite study snack is:
Anything that’s free.

Your favorite app is:
Does it make me technologically un-cool to admit my first thought when I read that prompt was roasted brussels sprouts? It is lunchtime. . .

Four things people may not know about you.

• My husband, Drew Berky, is the only person I have ever dated, and we have an awesome 7-month-old daughter named Eva — both of whom I don’t deserve.
• I worked in New York City for the HIV non-profit started by Bono of U2 before moving to Omaha for med school at the ripe age of 30ish.
• I moved to Scotland without a place to live, and did the same thing a year later when I moved to Washington, DC. All you need is a suitcase and brazen idealism.
• I’m told the fact that I can watch the original “Star Wars” trilogy on loop is an unusual quality. I don’t see why.