Juliana Upchurch

Title of Program: Women’s Health Care: Applying the Perspective of the Humanities to Medicine

E-mail Address: jupchur4@vols.utk.edu      

Hometown: Lebanon, TN

Year: Junior

Anticipated Graduation Date: May 2022

Description of Program: The practice of medicine has changed significantly over time from being a practice of the assembly of clues from the narratives your patients give to a science of interpreting data and applying a system of treatment. As health care systems increasingly computerize for efficiency, they lose the sociological, cultural, and historical connections that can help determine what treatment a patient needs. The goal of combining the diverse perspective of the Humanities to medicine is to provide a more holistic understanding of women as patients and how best to treat them in light of the many factors that could be influencing their health outside of the numbers presented on charts.

Departmental Emphases:  Biology, Chemistry, History, Psychology, Public Health, Anthropology, Philosophy, and Sociology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Susan Lawrence

Plans after graduation (career, graduate/professional school, etc.):  After graduation, I plan to attend medical school in order to become an ob/gyn.

Study Abroad: I plan to study abroad for either the second semester of my junior year or the summer after junior year.

Part-time employment; Hobbies; Campus Clubs/Activities: SSS-EAP tutor, AED pre-medicine fraternity, Chancellor’s Honors Program, and Chancellor’s Events Committee