A pre-health educator at Wichita State University, Brittni Mayagoitia is passionate about preparing students for health profession careers. Looking for a degree that would benefit her and her students, Mayagoitia found UF’s online master’s degree in anatomical sciences education program. She graduated in 2024. 

During a break in her busy teaching schedule, Mayagoitia shared why she chose our program, how it helped her career and why’s she’s now considering a second UF master’s degree.  

Why Earn an Online Master’s Degree With UF? 

Mayagoitia taught high school anatomy and physiology for 10 years, mostly to pre-health students taking courses for their college application. As she remembers: 

“Around COVID, I was looking for a master’s program. I wanted something specific to what I was teaching, like anatomy. That led me to the University of Florida’s online anatomical sciences education program.” 

Flexible Learning Made a Degree Possible 

Mayagoitia discovered that most anatomy master’s programs would’ve required her to leave Wichita, which wasn’t possible. She’d also have to sit through courses on topics she’d been teaching for years.  

With UF, Mayagoitia was able to complete her program around her teaching duties:  

“I actually did all my classwork at 4 or 5 in the morning before work. I couldn’t have done it without this opportunity. I can’t work all day and teach kids and get home at 5:00 to 6:00 [and start studying]. I’m exhausted. I was able to get up on my own time and do it at my own pace.” 

A Program That Supports Career Growth 

Master’s degree in hand, Mayagoitia was offered a new position and pay raise: 

“I was still teaching high school and doing some side work with Wichita State’s cadaver lab when I got into UF’s program. Because I didn’t have my master’s, I came on as a lab instructor at WSU. Once I got my master’s, I was able to become an assistant educator. I got into a higher level position that I wouldn’t have been able to before.” 

Applying Her UF Degree to Her Current Work 

Mayagoitia found UF’s “well-rounded” anatomical sciences education directly useful in her current teaching role: 

“As a teacher, I was able to answer questions better, make things a little bit more exciting. I realized I can apply this in a way that would make more sense to students. I was able to incorporate it in my teaching and even here at the university level too.”

A Favorite Course Improved Student Understanding 

Mayagoitia especially enjoyed the course Medical Histology: 

“I really loved Medical Histology. I learned so much. It really drove concepts home for me, and I feel like I was able to drive those concepts home better for students. It tied in the cell bio-type concepts with ‘beyond tissues.’ The anatomy part of things. It kind of bridged that gap.”

Gaining Skills for Today’s Classrooms 

Our anatomical sciences program’s education-oriented curriculum was particularly enlightening for Mayagoitia.  

“Because I hadn’t been in teacher school for almost 15 years, I was able to get into new things that people are doing now in education. Technology that I’m missing out on or should know about. Different ways of applying things in science education that I hadn’t before.” 

Is a Second UF Master’s Degree Next?  

After completing her anatomical sciences education program, Mayagoitia wanted to take all the remaining UF physiology courses. Due to overlapping curriculum, a graduate certificate wasn’t an option. However, another valuable path was: an online master’s degree in medical anatomy and physiology.  

“When I was asking questions about this UF master’s program, everyone was super helpful. People responded quickly and if they didn’t know the answer, they looped other people in to see what their thoughts were.” 

In exploring this second UF master’s degree, Mayagoitia discovered she’d already completed almost a third of that program. She could transfer 9 credits from the previous program and graduate with her second master’s degree by earning just 21 more credits. 

“I’ll take those [physiology] courses and a few other things I’d be interested in. If I get a second master’s out of it, that’s cool. More credit hours and more things I can apply to my teaching.” 

Benefits of a Second Master’s Degree to a Pre-Health Educator 

Mayagoitia believes any knowledge she gains from UF’s medical anatomy and physiology program will help her guide the next generation of healthcare professionals:  

“It’s going to continue helping me understand things at a deeper level,” she explained. “I think there’s an aspect of the courses covering the latest and greatest research. I’d be getting a piece of all those things.  

“We’re a small group of anatomy people working with incoming freshmen and transfer students in a new, up-and-coming department called Scientific Foundations. I feel UF’s program will allow me and the department to not only offer surface-level anatomy education but expand into different types of anatomy courses. 

“With a new biomedical campus and a new cadaver lab being built with University of Kansas, we have a lot of opportunities on the horizon. [This second degree] is going to help me enhance those opportunities, create more courses and make those courses better. We use a lot of physiology equipment that I’ll be able to use more.”   

Recommendations to Fellow Educators 

Mayagoitia recently heard from a high school teacher who needed graduate credit hours to renew her teaching license.  

“I sent her a link to UF and said I love the program. There are certificates. You don’t have to get a master’s. I’ve been referring UF’s program to other teachers because I thought it was really helpful for someone like us.”  

We’ll be sure to check back with Mayagoitia to see how her UF journey continues! 

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