By Dechen Lama
At Duke, a university committed to a well-rounded liberal arts education, I have taken a wide breadth of classes from ancient Greek philosophy to a class on how to mitigate natural catastrophes. Looking at my transcript it might be difficult to immediately see the relevance of these classes to each other. To be honest as an underclassman I wouldn’t have been able explain what my overall education really meant, but over time, experiences like Bass Connections enrich my education by exposing me to real-world scenarios that create interdisciplinary connections.
The implications of NIPT are extremely complex, necessitating a nuanced understanding of the world and thus allowing me to apply the knowledge I have gained from my broad coursework. As an undergraduate, this has been incredibly rewarding to apply concepts I have learned in class and see them at work in the world. For example, currently I am researching where first baseline of prenatal testing is occurring in India. I am interested in understanding access to care for different demographics and India’s overall health infrastructure. The research I do draws from my statistics class when I look at demographic and regional breakdowns of genetic burden of diseases. It draws from my cultural anthropology classes when I try to understand the relevance of cultural beliefs to seeking medical care. And it draws from my global health classes when I try to understand the infrastructural barriers to care.
As an undergraduate, it has also been exciting to further build on my previous research. During my sophomore year, I participated in Duke Immerse. Through the program, I traveled to Bhutanese refugee camps located in Nepal to research the impact of NGOs’ gender equality initiatives on health, the family, and resettlement. With Bass Connections, I can further delve into understanding this realm of the world. By senior year, I hope to culminate my research into a senior thesis. Overall, my experience with Bass Connections has been rewarding and invaluable. It has given me perspective on my overall education and is preparing me for any career I seek post-college in the public health sector.
