I've arrived safely in Cambridge! And my first impression is WOW, this place is gorgeous. I'm enrolled at St John's College, which serves as my residential college for the year. Cambridge University is composed of 31 colleges, each with its own unique student cohort and history. Being part of a residential college means that my housing and meals are all based within the walls of an old castle, with other members of St. John's. St John's College was founded exactly 500 years ago by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother to King Henry the VII and grandmother to the infamous King Henry VIII. The college has a long history of prestigious graduates, winning accolades primarily in science and medicine, including nobel laureates. The history of academic curiosity is tangible. Orientation week started off with a bang, with orientation activities encompassing dressing up in Harry Potter-style black robes for a class photo, a chapel service to bless the term, and various social activities to meet colleagues. One such social gathering involved pints of beer in the bar where Watson and Crick are said to have discovered DNA (so cool). Another highlight of the week was dinner with my Rotary Host, Irene Childrey, of the Cambridge Sawston Rotary club (see photo below). Her tales of the Cambridge Sawston club are very similar to the visions and goals of the San Marino Rotary Club, and I feel even more inspired to be part of such an impressive and international organization. My classes started this week as well. I'm studying public health which the World Health Organization defines as "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health." We were introduced to the course through a lecture entitled "When the Population is your Patient." As a medical student, much of my education up to now has focused on treating individuals, and their unique diseases. But much of health, and effectively delivering healthcare, revolves around treating disease on a population-level. I'm excited to learn more of the methods to tackle large-scale problems, such as HIV/AIDS. For our first exercise I worked with a group of classmates to brainstorm risk factors and solutions to an assigned public health problem - smoking during pregnancy. A problem with a multitude of drivers and challenges ranging from the media to mental health. In the coming weeks we'll study how to quantify the scale of illness using statistics and then how to tackle them. Back to class, Stay posted!
2 Comments
Bill Payne
10/11/2016 09:09:33 am
Your State-side Rotarians are most proud of you and are pleased to be your travel companions through this next journey of your life. You are making us most proud.
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Isaac Hung
10/11/2016 01:53:44 pm
Rotarians in San Marino are not only proud of you, we are so delighted to learn your incredible journey through the Global Scholar program. We know that you will touch many lives and to serve humanities wherever you are. Best wishes.
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AuthorI'm Gaelen Stanford-Moore, a fourth year medical student in San Fransisco, taking a gap year to study public health with an international perspective at Cambridge University, England. Archives
June 2017
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