Sample Plan: Healthcare and the Humanities

Academic Plan—Multidisciplinary Studies

Theme: Healthcare and the Humanities
Subjects of Focus: Biology, English, History

Description

Professionals in the field of healthcare are currently surrounded by many situations that make them less involved as a professional, and as a person. The medical field obviously needs employees with a strong scientific background that lays a foundation for the doctor or nurse’s daily situations, but what many workers lack today is the ability to deal with different obstacles for patients, and how to communicate with their correspondents. By having English and Humanities in a Science based major, I will be more well rounded as a healthcare professional, and be able to address different tasks with a more abstract mindset. This sort of curriculum puts me ahead as a professional and will help me be able to assess different situations with the knowledge of a person who has multiple studies of Science, English, and History. This will help me be able to distinguish which subjects will help me the most at the time based on the issue presented. By choosing the Multidisciplinary Studies path, I will not be as restricted as in a Biology degree and this degree will help me excel in communication, and understand the multiple topics that go into working in the medical field and working with the public.

Because of the Multidisciplinary Studies degree, I am able to choose which subjects will help me fulfill my lifelong endeavor in the healthcare field. The 3 subjects that I have chosen to create the theme in my Multidisciplinary Studies major are Biology, English, and History. The reason I chose Biology is to have a solid grounding of science and the study of how life works together to create the world that we live in. English is my second choice of a field to study because it allows you the practices and skills to think outside of the box in order to get to an answer. The English major in my theme gives you the structure you need to write and communicate effectively, while giving you the freedom to try and understand the patient’s background and use literature to alleviate their traumas with therapeutic methods that English teaches you. This is important because in medicine, you are given a situation and have many ways to go about the problem to get to a resolution. History is the final subject I chose because of it helping me learn the cultures of different places and to be well educated on what has happened in the past to be aware of the possibility of it happening again. This theme will help me be more aware of situations in medicine, culture, and literature to have a solid background of what has happened in the world.

Primary Areas of Coursework

400 level courses

ENGL 469 Slavery and the Literary Imagination (3) Is a class on the analysis of the impact of slavery on the petitions, poetry, slave narratives, autobiographies, and novels of African Americans. This class takes you inside the lives of slaves and their literature and allows you a chance to understand what they thought about and dealt with on a regular basis. It gives those who once had their lives taken from them a voice to tell their story from an autobiographical standpoint. This class contributes to my theme by introducing me to a different type of literature that existed many years ago that is important because it gives an insight to the trauma that these authors went through. This helps with my theme by giving me a whole new perspective of what people went through and learning how they dealt with it, which can be reflected in helping understand the value of a narrative to trauma victims.
ENGL 497 African American Read In (3) The class that I took in this section was the African American Read In: Diaspora, which uses literature to display the people of Africa and their historical transition into a new culture while trying to maintain their own. This course contributes to my theme by giving me an inside look of what people of different cultures go through while trying to fit in to a whole new place while still trying to remain true to themselves. The class may have been an English class, but it also gave a lot of history on Africa and its people. Not only did this class help me with learning and understanding the literature from the socio-historical place directly communicated through its people. This class also helped with my organizational skills by preparing for the event portion of the class. We all had to take on a different task by helping organize the Read-In to make the dinner and event happen.
BIOL 469 Neurobiology (3) Comprehensive examination of neuroanatomy and physiology designed to integrate the principles of neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, and molecular biology. This class gives an in depth look into how the processesses in the brain work to allow us to function. This relates to my Healthcare and the Humanities theme by helping me get a deeper understanding of what Neurobiology is comprised of, and what happens in every living thing.
BIOL 417 Invertebrate Zoology (4) Function and form of major invertebrate phyla. This class gives an overall look into the process of growth in the invertebrates that surround us and help us survive. This goes towards my themes by providing an advanced study of how organisms evolve, and how they are classified.
HIST 447 Recent American History (3) Contemporary economic, social, and political aspects of the United States and its role as a world power since 1945. This class gives a deeper look into what America has gone through in order to overcome the societal and worldwide political issues in the 20th century such as: The Great Depression, World War I&II, and The drug epidemic which has evolved America into the country that it is at present. This course goes towards my history theme by helping me gain a greater understanding of my country, and what it has been through in recent times.

Additional Selections:

HIST 143 History of Fascism and Nazism (3) The study of right-wing totalitarianism in the twentieth century, with special emphasis on Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Learning about this topic was a way to learn a different way of thinking on the traumas that happened in the world that I didn’t originally understand, but got to learn and be intrigued by. This relates to my theme by giving me the ability to get an inside look at what type of thinking caused a great historical massacre.
ENGL 297 Poe (3) An in depth class that gives a focus on what happened in Edgar Allan Poe’s life and writings to inspire his bizarre thinking that writing in different genres that lasted the test of time. A class on Edgar Allan Poe helps me with my theme because it helps me get a deeper understanding of Poe and his literature by discussing the different medical situations that were happening and growing in his time period. Having Poe’s Gothic writing and psychological stories give a greater opportunity to use stories as a therapeutic aid and gain information from all standpoints in the story and those affected.
ANTH 45 Cultural Anthropology (3) Beginnings of human culture; economic life, society, government, religion, and art among traditional peoples. This class gives an overall understanding, and study, on the people who make up this world. This class was especially important in this field of study in order to understand what different societies go through, and to get a deeper understanding of people that I will deal with on a regular basis in the public, and medical field.

Communication Skills:

ENGL 209 Journal or Magazine Practicum (1-6 per semester/maximum of 8) A practicum in the editing and publishing of a magazine or journal. Being in this class taught me how to review papers on a professional scale and helped me reflect what I put into revising other people’s papers into editing my own mistakes. Being editor of this class has given me a new appreciation of what goes into organizing, reviewing, and creating a literary collection. It helps me focus on my writing techniques and helps me be a leader who organizes and helps others.

Theory/Application:

WMNST 423 Sexual and Domestic Violence (3) Legal, sociological, and psychological perspectives of sexual and domestic violence. This class is important in order to understand what happens in society and will help me with my theme in order to help people on a regular basis.

Critical Analysis:

HIST 121 History of the Holocaust 1933-1945 (3) Historical analysis of Holocaust themes. Taking this class gave me a new outlook on life. This class allowed me to begin to learn about and try to understand the horrible event that took place over a course of years. Learning about the Holocaust made me completely rethink how history happens and educated me in ways to prevent them from happening again. This class goes towards by theme by satisfying my History focus and allows me to have a deeper understanding of such a tragedy that we should all learn from so that it never happens again.

Research Methods:

CHEM 110 (GN) Chemical Principles I (3) Basic concepts and quantitative relations. This class taught the basics of what matter is chemically composed of and how to analyze the particles that go into all matter. This class is a prerequisite for Med School.

Career and Academic Goals

Since I was 10 years old, I have always wanted to be an Orthopedic Surgeon. The Multidisciplinary Studies major allows me to work towards that goal by including the Biology major while combining my other passions of Humanities and the Liberal Arts all into one major. These sort of educational opportunities allows me to have a greater understanding of what people go through to try to fix their situations with the best bedside manner I have to offer. The next step in my career is to get a graduate degree that will fulfill my requirements and get me into Medical School. Until then I am going to try to get a job in the Medical field using the skills I have learned in the Multidisciplinary Studies degree.