BIS: Life Sciences, Public Health, Human Health and Wellness

Transcription

1 BIS: Life Sciences, Public Health, Human Health and Wellness Throughout my life, there were always stereotypes shown through the media about nursing homes; their atmospheres, patients and services all in which could be described in one word: sad. I had not noticed all of these stereotypes in detail until it had come to my attention that my parents were aging, and with aging, came the many associated health issues. They became unable to do many of the same things they used to be able to do; as my mother aged, she began to have arthritis pain, a pain I felt that could not be healed with medication alone. For the years I ve watched her battle these health issues, I began to gain an interest in the aging population, medicine and holistic methods of healing. My mother, who is a key player in my life and has inspired these very aspirations, taught me that there is more than what lies on the surface of an illness. That medicine alone is powerful, but not as powerful as the power of healing someone with your very own hands, your positivity and optimism. It is because of those interests and watching my parents, that I am choosing to pursue a Bachelors of Individualized Studies in Life Sciences, Public Health, and Human Health and Wellness. My reasoning for these three concentrations expands beyond the surface of interest alone. These three concentrations will serve as part of my journey that will one day allow me to fulfill my life purpose of giving back to my community. As one of the first Hmong generations born here in the United States, I feel it is my duty to give back to my community one day, for their work hard work in the Secret War and for the lives that were sacrificed in order for our people to come to this country. These three concentrations will work in harmony to expand the knowledge I need to pursue my career goals. After my undergraduate degree, I want to continue into

2 pharmacy school so that I will be able to aid the Hmong community as a pharmacist one day. So many times, my mother was hesitant to go get a prescription due to language barriers. I want to be more than just a pharmacist for the Hmong community, I want to translate medical papers for them, shed light on western medicine and serve as a bridge for the Hmong community and Western medicine. After years of being a pharmacist, I want to own a nursing home that will one day hold not only pharmaceutical practices, but holistic methods of healing as well, and more importantly, positivity. I want to own a nursing home that will break the stereotypes of sadness. The life sciences concentration will aid me in my understanding of life, the human body and most importantly, how medicine affects the body. Though the life sciences discipline is a broad discipline filled with several branches of science that deal with living organisms and their organization, life processes, and relationships to each other and their environment, I am choosing courses that will prepare me for pharmacy school and add to the knowledge I will need when I become a pharmacist. CHEM 2302 Organic Chemistry II looks at different reactions, synthesis, and spectroscopic characterization of organic compounds, organic polymers, and biologically important classes of organic compounds such as lipids, carbohydrates, amino acids, peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids. Organic chemistry will build the foundation I need to further my understanding of the complex structures of medicines and understand the more advance science classes I will be taking. BIOC 3021 Biochemistry examines the structures and functions of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates in further detail from CHEM 2302 Organic Chemistry II. It also looks at metabolism and regulation of metabolism, quantitative treatments

3 of chemical equilibria, enzyme catalysis, bioenergetics, chemical basis of genetic information flow. Putting both of these classes together, I will hope to gain an understanding of how molecules work in regards to the body and the things around us. In MICB 3301 Microbiology, we will take a look at molecular structures in relation to bacterial function and disease. ANAT 3601 Principle of Human Anatomy will help me understand anatomical relationships, clinical applications, macroscopic anatomy, histology neuroanatomy and embryology. In a further application of this, PHSL 3051 Human Physiology, will allow me to examine how major organ systems function: nerve, muscle, circulation, respiration, endocrine, renal, gastrointestinal, temperature regulation and energy metabolism. I love medicine and it s ability to heal others, and to fully understand medicine, is to fully understand the body. STAT 3011 Statistics explores standard statistical reasoning, simple statistical methods, social and physical sciences, mathematical reasoning behind facts in daily news and basic computing environment. Though statistics may not seem like it fits in with the other science courses I have, biology, physics, chemistry, meteorology, sociology, communication, and even information technology all use statistics. For many of these categories, the use of statistics in that field involves collecting data, analyzing it, coming up with a hypothesis, and testing that hypothesis. These are all skills I will need for not only pharmacy school, but skills I need for life. The public health concentration will allow me to examine the health issues of the aging population in depth through the lens of an epidemiologist, in teaching me how to take a closer

4 look at different populations as a whole, and how to monitor, report and think of possible solutions to diseases. PUBH Basic Concepts in Personal and Community Health was a great introduction to the beginning of the epidemiologist mindset. In this course, we learned about scientific, sociocultural, and attitudinal aspects of communicable and degenerative diseases, environmental and occupational health hazards, alcohol and drug problems. We also learned about the role of education in health conservation, disease control, and drug abuse. This course gave me the skills and strategies of how to measure health and disease, understand how it is understood in society as well as how the public health community responds to societal health issues. After this introductory course, I planned the rest of my courses to follow a more specific focus - that is - the aging population. The first course in which will introduce me to the study of how people age is GERO 5115 Introduction to Geriatrics. For this course, I will be learning how to diagnose and treat conditions common in caring for older people. GERO 5115 Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Aging looks at sociological, psychological aspects of aging, theories of aging, issues and problems of older adults in America. This course will also allow me to take a closer at the human services and their delivery systems for the elderly such as health, nutrition, long-term care, education, public policy, legislation, environment, housing and retirement. GEOG 3411W Geography of Health and Health Care will cover the application of human ecology, spatial analysis, political economy, and other geographical approaches to analyze problems of health and health care. Topics include distribution and diffusion of disease; impact of environmental, demographic, and social change on health; distribution, accessibility, and utilization of health practitioners and facilities.

5 PSY 5138 Psychology of Aging looks at how personalities age and the mentality of someone who is aging. This will be important for my future aspirations because it is important to understand the thinking of someone older and know what they are going through since my patients will most likely be a lot older than me. All these courses play a crucial role in adding to my knowledge of the elderly because the health issues and mind of the aging population is much different from that of a younger person and if I want to take care of them one day, I must understand them. The human health and wellness concentration will expand my knowledge of different methods of healing other than the use of prescription and non-prescription drugs. CSPH 5313 Acupressure taught me methods for self care and care of others. I learned the acupressure points of treatment of pain conditions, chronic health conditions, palliative care, oncology, women's health care. In CSPH 5535 Reiki Healing I learned about Reiki Healing History and current research findings, principles, precepts, and practical application of Reiki energy healing and alternative energy healing modalities. One of the most powerful experiences in this class was the activation of the Reiki energy and hand positions to perform a treatment because I still continuously use what I ve learned in CSPH 5313 and CSPH 5535 to heal others. CSPH 3211 Living on Purpose: An Exploration of Self, Purpose and Community was the class that allowed me to explore questions of meaning and purpose. It made my passions for medicine and healing even more clear to me through allowing me to explore other people's ways of living on purpose, big questions that shape the present and future and ways of building a framework to lead a purposeful life. It is in this class that I concluded that my purpose in life is to put smiles on others through my positivity.

6 CSPH 3201 Introduction to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a class I m currently taking. This class looks at techniques by which stress endemic in a fast-paced competitive culture can be reduced or worked with constructively, and recent medical-scientific literature on physiological and psychological elements in the stress response. As I am learning different techniques of mindfulness, I am constantly thinking about how I can one day include this in my nursing home. CSPH 5111 Ways of Thinking about Health looks at cultural contexts explored through field-trip immersion experiences, aspects of different healthcare systems, indigenous North American, Vedic, traditional Chinese and biomedicine. Similarly to CSPH 3201, this course will allow me to think about health in many ways. CSPH 3001 Introduction to Integrative Healing explores current US healthcare system and US cultural views of health and wellness. It will also cover various complementary and alternative medical systems and practices that might be integrated into current way of thinking about health, wellness and treatment of illness and disease. FSCN 3301 Food Choices: Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves links between our food, diet, agricultural practices, and health of planet. Cultural and personal context of food choices, ways that food is produced, food choices and the earth's biodiversity.the effects of food on the environment and economic policies and choices. In connecting all three concentrations: Life Sciences, Public Health and Human Health and Wellness, I will be able to be a pharmacist with the knowledge of both spectrums of healing. This will enable me to carefully prescribe medication and give advice on holistic healing

7 practices to my patients and eventually implementing such practices in my own nursing home one day. All of these concentrations may be broad, but the framework I ve created has shaped these concentrations into very specific focuses, in which will make me a knowledgeable and wise pharmacist and one day nursing home owner. This is the strength of my proposed program, to be able to take what I have learned, and really use it to help people. When I take these two different sides of healing and put them together, with the understanding of the health issues of the aging population, I will be able to pinpoint how to address these issues. Hand in hand, these concentrations will allow me to understand both spectrums of healing - from medicine to meditation and play a part of fulfilling my sense of purpose: to give back to my community and bring optimism to the lives of many.

8 BIS/IDIM Program Course Worksheet Name: ID#: IDIM Title: Total number of credits in proposed program: 53 Total number 3/4/5xxx level credits in proposed program: Total credits in program left to complete: Title: Concentration One Public Health Dept. Course Code Course Title Complete: Credits (Grade) PUBH 3004 Basic Concepts in Personal and Community Health 4 GERO 5115 Intro to Geriatrics 2 GERO 5105 Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Aging 3 GEOG 3411W Geography of Health and Healthcare 4 PSY 5138 Psychology of Aging 3 TOTALS: 3/4/5xxx level credits in area: Total credits in area (IDIM only): 16 Not Complete: Credits (Term) Title: Concentration Two Human Health and Wellness Dept. Course Code Course Title Complete: Credits (Grade) CSPH 5313 Acupressure 1 CSPH 5535 Reiki Healing 1 CSPH 3211 Living on Purpose 2 CSPH 3201 Introduction to Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction 3 CSPH 5111 Ways of Thinking about Health 2 CSPH 3001 Introduction to Integrative Healing Practices 3 FSCN 3301 Food Choices: Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves 3 Not Complete: Credits (Term) TOTALS: 3/4/5xxx level credits in area: Total credits in area (IDIM only): 15 Title: Concentration Three Life Sciences Dept. Course Code Course Title Complete: Credits (Grade) CHEM 2302 Organic Chemistry II 3 BIOC 3021 Biochemistry 3 MICB 3301 Biology of Micro Organisms 5 ANAT 3601 Principles of Human Anatomy 3 PHSL 3051 Human Physiology 4 STAT 3011 Intro to Statistical Analysis 4 TOTALS: 3/4/5xxx level credits in area: Total credits in area (IDIM only): 22 Not Complete: Credits (Term)