Jessica Fulmer

When I finally made up my mind that I wanted to go to medical school, the first task I had was to choose which bachelor's degree I would pursue. I heard about the Health, Society & Policy degree from my pre-med advisor, who thought I might be interested in taking a look at it. The classes offered as part of the major sounded interesting and diverse, and I hoped that by taking them I would gain practical knowledge about issues facing the health care industry today. After some research I decided to choose the Health, Society & Policy major; and I'm so glad I did.

The courses I took, and the wonderful professors who taught them, prepared me for my application to medical school by opening my eyes to some of the complex social and cultural issues affecting health care that I hadn't previously been exposed to. I was challenged to expand my thinking and see the world from a different perspective. I believe there is so much more that goes into being a good physician than having a solid science background (although that is important, too!), and I feel like this major prepared me to go into the application cycle with a broader knowledge of issues and an increased sensitivity to the challenges many face in the pursuit of basic health care. I hope to use this knowledge to make myself a better student, citizen, and one day a better doctor.