{"id":608,"date":"2016-05-12T14:45:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T18:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/?p=608"},"modified":"2016-05-12T14:45:28","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T18:45:28","slug":"english-and-medicine-this-student-reflects-on-doing-both","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2016\/05\/12\/english-and-medicine-this-student-reflects-on-doing-both\/","title":{"rendered":"“English and Medicine, This Student Reflects on Doing Both”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to one of our very own, Courtney Potteiger, who has won the J.J. Quinn\u00a0Award<\/strong> with the following essay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Formula for Greatness: English and Medicine<\/p>\n

I vividly remember clutching my tattered paperback of Tale of Two Cities<\/em> on the floor of my parents\u2019 bathroom. Upon reading Sidney Carton\u2019s last words, intense emotion overcame me and I ran, embarrassed, to their bathroom only to crumple and cry over the beautiful horror of Carton\u2019s sacrifice. That was nearly eight years ago. Now, this semester, I find myself dazedly wandering into the offices of my former, undergraduate English professors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot believe that I am completing my very last English course. What am I going to do?\u201d I always ask. Dr. Rebecca Beal says that I am now at a time when I will become my own teacher, directing and tailoring my literature studies throughout the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope I will have time,\u201d I tell her. \u201cI will be so busy in medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will come back to you,\u201d she reassures me. \u201cYou will find it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

I always knew that I wanted to be a physician. No other career that I tried on seemed to fit me as properly or to suit me as comfortably as medicine. However, my deep interest in English also seemed to tear me away from that perfect fit. I was taught that solely hard science populated the world of doctoring, not symbolism and theme. Consequently, during my first two years at The University of Scranton, I valiantly attempted to separate myself from my love of Victorian literature. The resulting restlessness increased my reluctance to invest myself fully within my studies. During my junior year, I stumbled into a Victorian literature tutorial with Dr. Ellen Casey. We explored the depths of Austen, the Bront\u00ebs, and other literary giants. Suddenly, I felt like me again. Thus, I chose to pursue an English minor and dove back into the realm of literature.<\/p>\n

I realize now that English and medicine are not mutually exclusive disciplines. Rather, they blend beautifully together to constitute a great physician. Pragmatically, studying English improves verbal skills and enhances one\u2019s ability to effectively communicate with another. Medicine, although based in biological sciences, reaches its fullest potential through communication with one\u2019s patients. Therefore, a respectable physician must learn to utilize and to understand a patient\u2019s language.<\/p>\n

Comprehending words only scratches the surface of the magnitude of English studies. English plunges its audiences into foreign worlds. Literally, setting can drive a reader into the dark depths of the mediaeval period. However, the worlds of which I am discussing are those of others\u2019 lives. Because I have only my life to experience, the lives of other people will undoubtedly feel foreign to me. English exposes one to new ways of thought, and presents situations that forces audiences to think critically about circumstances, decisions, and feelings that they have never encountered firsthand. Herein lies the singularity of English.<\/p>\n

I, as a future physician, can sympathize with, but can rarely know a patient\u2019s experiences. Regardless, it is my duty to try my best. Studying English continuously reveals not only unfamiliar lives, but also innovative methods of assessment. The search for context clues transfers over to the realm of medicine when assessing patients\u2019 bodily and economic symptoms in order to successfully treat their ailment. Great physicians all invoke an English dimension when practicing, which is a quality I hope to acquire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to one of our very own, Courtney Potteiger, who has won the J.J. Quinn\u00a0Award with the following essay.   A Formula for Greatness: English and Medicine I vividly remember clutching my tattered paperback of Tale of Two Cities on the floor of my parents\u2019 bathroom. Upon reading Sidney Carton\u2019s last words, intense emotion overcameContinue reading ““English and Medicine, This Student Reflects on Doing Both””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,11,33,14,2,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards","category-english-honor-society-sigma-tau-delta","category-medicine","category-reasons-to-study-literature","category-studentsuccessstories","category-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2015\/04\/14\/english-bio-alum-jenn-lewis-writes-with-news-of-med-school-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":608,"position":0},"title":"English & Bio Alum Jenn Lewis Writes with News of Med School Success","author":"Dr. Joseph E. Kraus Ph.D.","date":"April 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Jenn Lewis (BA, Biology & English, 2011) writes with news of her experiences as a medical student at Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia where, among other things, she bridged her natural science and humanities backgrounds by taking responsibility for editing the college's literary magazine. In her own, friendly as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Creative Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Creative Writing","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/category\/studentsuccessstories\/creative-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":353,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2015\/07\/09\/english-minor-lit-mag-editor-chris-kustera-staying-at-the-u-to-earn-m-a-in-chemistry\/","url_meta":{"origin":608,"position":1},"title":"English Minor & Lit Mag. Editor Chris Kustera Staying at ‘the U’ to Earn M.A. in Chemistry","author":"Dr. Joseph E. Kraus Ph.D.","date":"July 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Chris Kustera (BA 2015) may have double-majored in BCMB (Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology), but he also found\u00a0a way to make the English department home. He not only earned a minor in English, but he was also one of the editors of Esprit, our campus literary magazine. The good news\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Medicine"","block_context":{"text":"Medicine","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/category\/studentsuccessstories\/medicine\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chris Kustera","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/files\/2015\/07\/Chris-Kustera1-194x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":578,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2016\/04\/06\/a-top-medical-school-revamps-requirements-to-lure-english-majors-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":608,"position":2},"title":"A Top Medical School Revamps Requirements To Lure English Majors","author":"Mrs. Melissa Eckenrode","date":"April 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. David Muller, dean of medical education at Mount Sinai, believes that including in each medical school class some students who have a strong background in the humanities makes traditional science students better doctors, too. You can't tell by looking which students at Mount Sinai's school of medicine in New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Academics"","block_context":{"text":"Academics","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/category\/studentsuccessstories\/academics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"davidmullerhumed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/files\/2016\/04\/davidmullerhumed-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":619,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2016\/06\/03\/university-represented-at-sigma-tau-delta-english-honors-society-convention\/","url_meta":{"origin":608,"position":3},"title":"Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society Convention","author":"Mrs. Melissa Eckenrode","date":"June 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sigma Tau Delta held its annual convention on March 2-6, this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where three of our student members traveled to read their original work: Elizabeth Polishan, \"Mythology and Maritime Archaeology: Molly as Calypso\", \"The Other Side of Despair\"; Peter Shaver, \"'Ode to a Nightingale ' and 'A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Academics"","block_context":{"text":"Academics","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/category\/studentsuccessstories\/academics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0220","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/files\/2016\/06\/IMG_0220-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":801,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2017\/03\/02\/english-major-graduate-continues-education-in-london\/","url_meta":{"origin":608,"position":4},"title":"English Major graduate continues education in London","author":"Mrs. Melissa Eckenrode","date":"March 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Brina Platt, English Major and graduating senior in 2017, has been accepted and plans on attending Kingston University in London for a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing. 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