Alum harnesses passion for poetry with pediatric nursing, promoting holistic health and lifelong nutrition
Zeynep Inanoglu 鈥�21 is a registered nurse at Yale New Haven Health pursuing her master鈥檚 degree at Yale University School of Nursing to become a pediatric nurse practitioner in primary care.
鈥淚 am deeply committed to caring for, educating, and supporting children and their
families,鈥� says Inanoglu, who is especially interested in working with refugee and
immigrant populations and LGBTQIA+ families. Her commitment extends to promoting lifelong
nutritional health, encouraging children to adopt healthy eating and exercise habits
as preventative measures against disease and eating disorders.
Inanoglu is also a poet, with her first collection of poetry, "Patterns of Blood," forthcoming (Mouthfeel Press, 2024). The chapbook grew out of the capstone project she completed in her senior year. Growing up in a small Turkish community on the outskirts of Boston, Inanoglu majored in English language and literature at Skidmore, with the intention of being a writer. In her sophomore year, she took a marine biology course and realized how much she enjoyed science. She began taking pre-med courses in addition to continuing to focus on her English classes. She also took advantage of opportunities to shadow an OB/GYN doctor, a urologist physician assistant, and a pediatric nurse practitioner in Boston.
鈥淚 had not considered nursing in thinking about options in the medical field,鈥� Inanoglu says. 鈥淏ut I was really intrigued with the holistic care approach and how close the nurse practitioner was to her patients, and that鈥檚 when I decided this is something I鈥檇 like to do.鈥�
During her senior year, Inanoglu participated in the New York State Summer Writers Institute program on campus. For two months, she participated in in-depth creative writing workshops with well-known poets, such as Campbell McGrath. During that time, she read books like 鈥淏eing Mortal鈥� by surgeon Atul Gawande and 鈥淐utting for Stone,鈥� cowritten by physician Abraham Verghese.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I realized I could do both,鈥� says Inanoglu, who won the College鈥檚 Distinguished Writing Award in Poetry in her senior year. 鈥淚 could hold on to my passion for writing and also fulfill my purpose in medicine.鈥�
