Rachel Bank

Undergraduate: Washington University in St. Louis (2019) 

About me: At WashU, I studied anthropology with a focus on global health where I learned about the world's different health paradigms. Passionate about exploring health concepts on a global scale, I chose to pursue public health research while studying abroad in Durban, South Africa. I had the privilege to live with a family in an urban Zulu community and developed my own research project exploring the postnatal experiences of low-income Zulu mothers. My current research interests include using a sociocultural and biomedical understanding to find solutions to perinatal healthcare inequities for a multitude of international communities. Being a doctor that treats patients not only as diseases to be diagnosed and treated, but also as people requiring care and support, requires the ability to connect with individuals who come from different backgrounds than my own. I plan to use the skills I develop through the WMP to become an empathy-oriented physician capable of addressing today's greatest global health disparities.