Hello everybody, and welcome to my Honors Learning Portfolio!
My name is Gabriel Brown, fourth year pre-med student majoring in neuropsychology. I also have minors in medical sciences and psychology, and a certificate in Italian language and culture.
As a premed student, I've really embraced the concept of "holisticness" in medical care. This term (coined by one of my advisors to describe me) really seeks to embrace the idea that we have to address social and societal concerns along with biological and psychological issues if we are to promote health. The key word here is promote health. Health should be promoted, based mostly on preventative measures rather than curative measures. I wholeheartedly embrace this idea and have become an advocate for prevention-based healthcare, as opposed to sickness-based healthcare.
I also find cross-cultural experiences to be very important. Other cultures have a great deal to say about health, well-being, and a whole range of other topics. By trying to understand these perspectives and integrate them into my personal worldview, I have found myself becoming more empathetic toward others and more understanding of their own reactions to a variety of situations. One of the best ways I've found to accomplish this is to travel! I've developed a love of travelling, and to date have travelled abroad to Scotland and Iceland. I have future travels planned to Italy, Australia, and Ireland.
I've also found another important way of achieving this, though it isn't always practical and definitely doesn't work for everyone. It is this: learn a new language! Each language has its own patterns and tempo. Often, the way one language expresses an idea differs from the way another expresses an idea. The idea may be the same, but the way of looking at it is different. There is some neurological basis for this idea of expanding perspectives by learning multiple languages, which I find utterly fascinating.
The three preceding paragraphs can really be boiled down to summarize what is most important to me with regards to career and goals:
1. Developing a holistic approach to medicine, which takes into account the entire individual as a person.
2. Developing an appreciation of different points of view, particularly as they are affected by cultural variation.
3. Developing empathy for points of view outside of my own.
I also love to write! I had a few poems published while I was in high school, and once had dreams of becoming a published author. I've continued to write both poetry and prose. In my poetry, I tend to explore symbolism, emotion, connection, and loneliness. It has become a tradition in my family that, when a family member passes, I write a poem and read it at the funeral (some people consider this morbid, I know, but I've found it to be helpful and comforting). When I write prose, it's usually in the form of fantasy. I've been heavily influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, J.K. Rowling, and Daniel Arendson.
While my interests are fairly diverse, some of my most engaging and fascinating experiences involve integrating these interests into a cohesive whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. That is, I believe, a fundamental aspect of being human and exemplifies the dynamic qualities of our characters.
I hope you enjoy perusing my portfolio and getting a taste of the experiences I've been fortunate to have while at UC. If you have questions or wish to discuss something, I can be reached via the links at the top, right-hand corner of the screen. Please also feel free to view my CV, embedded below.
Tanti auguri!
My name is Gabriel Brown, fourth year pre-med student majoring in neuropsychology. I also have minors in medical sciences and psychology, and a certificate in Italian language and culture.
As a premed student, I've really embraced the concept of "holisticness" in medical care. This term (coined by one of my advisors to describe me) really seeks to embrace the idea that we have to address social and societal concerns along with biological and psychological issues if we are to promote health. The key word here is promote health. Health should be promoted, based mostly on preventative measures rather than curative measures. I wholeheartedly embrace this idea and have become an advocate for prevention-based healthcare, as opposed to sickness-based healthcare.
I also find cross-cultural experiences to be very important. Other cultures have a great deal to say about health, well-being, and a whole range of other topics. By trying to understand these perspectives and integrate them into my personal worldview, I have found myself becoming more empathetic toward others and more understanding of their own reactions to a variety of situations. One of the best ways I've found to accomplish this is to travel! I've developed a love of travelling, and to date have travelled abroad to Scotland and Iceland. I have future travels planned to Italy, Australia, and Ireland.
I've also found another important way of achieving this, though it isn't always practical and definitely doesn't work for everyone. It is this: learn a new language! Each language has its own patterns and tempo. Often, the way one language expresses an idea differs from the way another expresses an idea. The idea may be the same, but the way of looking at it is different. There is some neurological basis for this idea of expanding perspectives by learning multiple languages, which I find utterly fascinating.
The three preceding paragraphs can really be boiled down to summarize what is most important to me with regards to career and goals:
1. Developing a holistic approach to medicine, which takes into account the entire individual as a person.
2. Developing an appreciation of different points of view, particularly as they are affected by cultural variation.
3. Developing empathy for points of view outside of my own.
I also love to write! I had a few poems published while I was in high school, and once had dreams of becoming a published author. I've continued to write both poetry and prose. In my poetry, I tend to explore symbolism, emotion, connection, and loneliness. It has become a tradition in my family that, when a family member passes, I write a poem and read it at the funeral (some people consider this morbid, I know, but I've found it to be helpful and comforting). When I write prose, it's usually in the form of fantasy. I've been heavily influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, J.K. Rowling, and Daniel Arendson.
While my interests are fairly diverse, some of my most engaging and fascinating experiences involve integrating these interests into a cohesive whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. That is, I believe, a fundamental aspect of being human and exemplifies the dynamic qualities of our characters.
I hope you enjoy perusing my portfolio and getting a taste of the experiences I've been fortunate to have while at UC. If you have questions or wish to discuss something, I can be reached via the links at the top, right-hand corner of the screen. Please also feel free to view my CV, embedded below.
Tanti auguri!