PRE-MED  | Autumn Polidor’s path to medicine began with a realization: Vermont faced a shortage of family doctors, and she wanted to help. That decision led her to a major career change, on to medical school, and ultimately to a specialty in addiction treatment.

Autumn’s career path began far from the world of health care. As a studio art major at UVM, she explored her creative passions and graduated in 2003. “I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do,” she says. “I had this very rough idea of becoming an artist, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it feasible.”

After graduation, Autumn worked in a bakery and pursued small creative business ventures. Despite these efforts, the businesses’ seasonal nature and inconsistent income led her to search for different work. Her turning point came when she read an article about Vermont’s shortage of family doctors. “I thought, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ And I started looking into pre-med programs,” she explains, ultimately deciding on UVM’s Post-Bacc Pre-Med Program.

Autumn’s story is one of thousands made possible by the Post-Bacc Program, which for 30 years has provided the education and mentorship necessary for aspiring healthcare professionals to pursue careers in medicine, dentistry, nursing, and more. With an 83 percent medical school matriculation rate, the program remains a vital pathway for those seeking to make a difference in health care.

“The Post-Bacc Program gives you support with an advisor,” Autumn recalls. “I felt like I could trust the guidance I was getting. It was a big change in terms of my identity, going from artist to scientist. But we were all making this transition and change and doing it in our own ways. It made it feel more manageable and doable.”

Surrounded by peers with diverse backgrounds, Autumn found the support and confidence to pursue medical school. “Most people [in the program] didn’t have a straight-up science background,” she says. “That was confidence-building.”

The program provided the prerequisites for medical school and a strong support system, helping Autumn navigate the next steps in her career–attending medical school at UVM and then completing a family medicine residency at Oregon Health and Science University. Autumn, who grew up in Vermont, returned to the state in 2022 and now serves patients remotely through Rogue Community Health.

“The Post-Bacc Program was a huge turning point for me,” says Autumn. “It gave me the confidence, guidance, and community I needed to take this leap into medicine. I’ll always be grateful for that support.”