UVA Today, March 6th, 2018
Madeline Rita, who will graduate in May, is bound for Asia" to experience and learn from unfamiliar health belief systems."
Madeline, a fourth-year global development studies major, does not yet know in which Asian country she will live after she graduates, but she knows she will be working with a partner organization in a health care field. Rita received a Luce Scholarship, which provides stipends, language training, and individualized professional placement in Asia each year for 15 to 18 scholars who have had limited prior exposure to Asia.
"This opportunity is tremendously exciting becaues it gives me a chance to experience and learn from unfamiliar health belief systems," Rita said. "The way we encounter and engage illness tells a fascinating story about our cultural values and priorities, and there are so many resourceful, thought-provoking things people do to manage their health in different contexts. I'm eager to discover more of that."
A high school graduate of the Denver School of the Arts, Rita plans to attend medical school, possibly pursuing a dual degree in medical anthropology or public health. She hopes her time in Asia will influence her approach to medicine.
"Health care is a profession that deals with profound vulnerability and subjectivity," she said. "I hope my Luce year will help me become better equipped to assume that responsibility with the reverence and empathy it demands."
Emphasis added
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