Embodying the Warren Alpert Medical School's humanistic approach, the third-year medical student is looking at the "whole patient" not just with a physician's eyes, but through the camera lens.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - It was the remote island country of the Solomon Islands that ultimately brought Benjamin Katz to Brown University.
Katz was weighing his medical school choices when he attended a conference to present his undergraduate research project about neglected tropical diseases in Rwanda. While there, he met Warren Alpert Medical School student Dylan Bush, who was presenting his research about diabetes-associated limb amputation in the Solomon Islands. Katz was thrilled to connect with Bush and learn about his experience at Brown.
"The Warren Alpert medical students I'd already met were not only very passionate about what they were doing individually, but also welcoming and supportive," said Katz, who majored in community health at Tufts University. "During and well after the conference, Dylan was amazingly responsive and informative. I was curious about student research opportunities at Brown, so I became very interested in his Solomon Islands project."
Katz made his final decision just before the deadline. Now in his third year of medical school at Brown, Katz has created a home base from which to explore his interests in global health and medicine. He's conducted humanistic global health research abroad and in Providence and has taken advantage of mentorship, research opportunities, programs and activities through Brown's Center for Global Health Equity.
"There are so many things the medical students can be involved with," he said. "I recently attended an amazing talk from the head of the well-known global health NGO Socios en Salud - he flew from Peru to be with us, which was so cool. There are discussions like that all the time, as well as ample resources to learn about research opportunities and project funding."
