“In a few years, I will be a doctor.  I am amazed, however, at how little medical students learn about the complexities of the health care system and the importance of social, psychological, cultural, political, and economic influences on health.  How can medical students grow into successful doctors without understanding the non-medical aspects of medicine?  By studying the history of medicine, for example, I have learned how past events shaped not only modern treatments but also the current medical school curriculum and the American health insurance system.  In a narrative medicine class, I have sought to further my understanding of the doctor-patient relationship and hope to use this knowledge to someday become a more empathetic physician.  During a semester in Denmark studying MHS-related issues, I experienced a universal health care system first hand.  Throughout college, I have learned from and spoken with an alternative medicine practitioner, a medical poet, a public health worker studying immigration, a health economist, and a medical ethicist, among others.  The diversity that I have experienced through MHS has given me a well-rounded perspective of the many factors that can influence medicine and will hopefully allow me to become a more culturally-competent, socially-aware, understanding doctor someday.” –Sarah Deery