\u201cThis particular group, I can\u2019t get them to stop talking,\u201d she said. \u201cThe sentence is barely out of my mouth before they start.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 12-person class of 2019-20 brings\u00a0a variety of majors, backgrounds and goals to the program, but in addition to a loquacious nature its members share a vision of a healthier world. That quickly created a bond between graduates of eight colleges and universities representing five states.<\/p>\n
This iteration of the MS-CEM program is made up of \u00a0Furman alumni Jagroop Singh \u201919, Jamila Johnson \u201919, Mutaz Sarhan \u201919 and Wade Miller \u201917 alongside graduates of the University of North Carolina-Asheville, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Spelman College, the College of Charleston, Columbia College, Washington & Lee University and Texas Christian University.<\/p>\n
Bryanna Williams, an Asheville, North Carolina, native who majored in human development and family studies at UNCA, is one of two students who does not have a degree in biology, chemistry or neuroscience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u2026 think being able to study languages allowed me to focus on more of a humanistic side of medicine,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen Furman came up, I was like, \u2018Hold on. What is this?\u2019 But this program really encompasses everything that I was thinking of when I was looking into language and medicine. It just bridges it perfectly, because there is the community engagement with the hard sciences. So I\u2019m getting to bring everything that I\u2019ve always loved together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MS-CEM was a decade in the making, Turgeon said, and the goal was always to make the program more than \u201ctake a few science courses and improve your GPA and hopefully you\u2019ll get into medical school.” That’s why classes like \u201cImplicit Bias & Community Engagement Training\u201d are taken alongside \u201cApplied Human Clinical Anatomy.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"MS-CEM](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190729_MastersPublicHealth_AnatomyLab_042.jpg\")
MS-CEM students Rachel Donaldson, left, and Jagroop Singh ’19, right, look at a computer during class.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI think more compassionate healthcare and intentional healthcare is something that drew me to this program, because my undergraduate degree was very science-focused,\u201d Rachel Donaldson, who majored in biology at TCU, said. \u201cGet the best MCAT score that you can and do the best in school, but there wasn\u2019t a ton of focus on who the patients are or what factors are contributing to them having these certain illnesses. So I think it\u2019s really good for prep training before going to medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singh took several classes taught by Turgeon while earning his biology undergraduate degree and hopes to become an oncologist. He anticipated liking the MS-CEM, but not as much as he has.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of us in the program are interested in the community health aspect, but this dives much deeper than expected,” Singh, of Lilburn, Georgia, said. “We really are looking at overall community health and how socially determining factors as well as other aspects of the community really affect health in general.”<\/p>\n
A philosophy major at Furman, Lynne Waheeba \u201918 was one of the program\u2019s first 14 graduates in May. While writing her master\u2019s thesis, \u201cIdentity in Schizophrenia,\u201d<\/a> she realized she was more interested in pursuing a career in research than medical school.<\/p>\n \u201cThe program was exactly what I expected it to be, honestly,\u201d said Waheeba, an applied behavior therapist at the Project HOPE Foundation in Greenville. \u201cThe classes that we took were very impactful in my life. For example, the health policy class was a very major thing I am constantly talking about. We learned how policies are made and how policies affect our life every day, especially in the healthcare system.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a perfect outcome as far as Turgeon is concerned.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a place to not just help you get to that next place immediately but to help you figure out what that next step is going to be,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the things we\u2019re trying really hard to do in the program is to have the students feel connected to their community and to move beyond just talking about the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n