This article offers us an example of the important influence of cross-cultural education on professionals, in this case those who are still involved in their medical studies. Such experiences and learning broaden our perspectives and ultimately contribute to better science and health care.

University student abroadBiomedicine grad students deepen compassion through cross-cultural education

Graduate students in the medical field do not usually study abroad as part of their collegiate experience. But the two-year-old MA in biomedicine program at Eastern Mennonite University is designed to teach its students to look at biomedicine from a broad, multi-faceted perspective.

“Our philosophy is very different,” said biology professor Roman Miller, PhD, who directs the program. “Biomedicine, health and healing need to be holistic. It takes more than biology, math and physic courses to understand the human person.”

Early visionaries decided to adapt the undergraduate cross-cultural requirement to biomedicine graduate students, giving it a medical twist. They believed that students needed exposure to the kind of diversity they were likely to encounter as biomedical professionals.

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photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouverislanduniversity/5103012135/