A tale of two majors

Brandon Burg ’17, an aspiring physician, knew he never wanted his future patients to leave his office feeling like they were “just another number.” Burg — who pursued a pre-health track and will be attending the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in the fall — said majoring in human development (HDEV) taught him to understand how people’s circumstances affect their care.

Burg, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cancer of the lymph system) his junior year of college, took a semester off to undergo chemotherapy. He said frequent hospital stays, experiences with multiple physicians and the effects of the illness strengthened his commitment to practice “people-centered medical care.”

He shares a few reasons why he thinks “every student at Binghamton should take an HDEV class.”

Q: Why did you decide to combine a pre-health track with HDEV?

BB: I chose the HDEV major because of its emphasis on solving the problems of individuals, families and communities. I knew it would be advantageous to know how to work with people of different cultures, ethnic, racial and socio-economic backgrounds; I didn’t think the pre-health track would teach me that alone.

Q: Why did you choose to major in HDEV and not a hard science like biology or chemistry?

BB: I knew I wanted to be an HDEV major and attend medical school when I started at Binghamton. The only question was how I was going to balance the two academic tracks. The HDEV and pre-health curricula were a perfect marriage. I want to practice patient-focused medicine, and HDEV is going to equip me with a better understanding of patients’ backgrounds and beliefs during treatment.

Q: You were a Binghamton University tour guide. What would you tell visitors about the HDEV program?

BB: Whenever parents and students asked, “What is human development?” my ears perked up. I would tell them, “Human development doesn’t instill students with the knowledge specific to one career path; students will learn material that can be applied to any job or life experience.”

Q: What skills did you gain through your courses?

BB: Discussions and essays taught me how to better articulate my experiences as well as how to put myself in another person’s shoes in an informed way. I learned how

to be confident and comfortable doing group work, team presentations and public speaking, as well.

Q: How has your undergraduate experience helped you prepare for medical school?

BB: HDEV provided a lens for understanding how to be an

effective advocate, especially for aging and disadvantaged populations. The curricula also enhanced my pre-health courses and my internships in healthcare. When I shadow doctors, I can analyze the effectiveness of treatment delivery and to what extent the doctors are focusing on the whole patient and not just the ailment or disease.

Q: What did you do on campus outside of your major?BB: I served on the College of Community and Public Affairs Dean’s Student Advisory Board, which gave me a voice in shaping the college’s vision, and as president of the Human Development Association my senior year. I was a research assistant in the Chemistry Department and developed noninvasive nanotechnology sensors to measure blood-glucose levels as an alternative to invasive needles for obtaining blood samples.

Q: What was the most rewarding part of being an HDEV student?

BB: I appreciated the supportive network of students and faculty, and the flexibility of the major, which allowed me to pursue other interests in college. Most pre-health students were focused on working in the same field or getting the same kind of jobs. I sat next to people who were completely different from me: future social workers, future educators, future policy analysts. This kind of diversity taught me how to learn in ways that mirror the real world. —Natalie Murphy ’14

Libby Gross ’16 is a student in Boston University’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program and a research assistant at the school’s Center for Neurorehabilitation, where she’s working to create a virtual coach for people recovering from spinal cord injuries. She’s also an advocate for forging one’s own path in college, career and life.

In this Q&A, Gross, who earned degrees in human development and integrative neuroscience at Binghamton, shares how she went from “undecided” to a dual major and why she disregarded concerns that her two majors didn’t “go together.”

Q: What inspired your dual major?

LG: I was undecided about my major, and I knew Binghamton would give me a lot of different options. Initially I was set on being a psych major, but missed the hard sciences. That led me to integrative neuroscience, a combination of psychology and hard science. It was perfect for me. I was interested

in human development (HDEV) because HDEV is all about working with people, and I knew I wanted to work with people.

Q: Were you concerned about putting the two majors together?

LG: Other people were concerned; I wasn’t. I picked the majors I was interested in. I decided that college is supposed to be what you want it to be. I knew if I was passionate about both things I would find a way to incorporate them.

Q: You’re pursuing a clinical doctorate in occupational therapy (OT). How well do you think your undergraduate degrees prepared you for that?

LG: I think both undergraduate degrees complement each other and work well with my graduate program.

A strong theme in human development is looking at social factors that lead people to be in difficult situations and then working to create social change. Those are also things we talk about in OT. As occupational therapists, we focus on helping people live in a way that is meaningful for them. If there are barriers in their lives, we find ways they can safely and healthfully navigate them.

I want to work with people with neurological conditions, so understanding the basis for impairment, how diseases typically present themselves and how to treat specific disorders all comes from having the science and psych background that integrative neuroscience gave me.

Q: Does your foundation in HDEV affect how you work with others?

LG: Having a background in HDEV definitely influences how I deal with people. I feel comfortable with clients and my classmates. Even though we come from different backgrounds, I feel comfortable sharing my opinions and trying to understand their viewpoints and where they’re coming from.

Q: You were president of the Human Development Student Association and a peer advisor at Binghamton. What did you gain from those experiences?

LG: Being president of the association taught me about working in a group for a long period of time; I had never had a leadership position like that before. Being a peer advisor was an encouraging experience. By the end of the first semester people would ask me all sorts of questions. It made me feel I was doing my job well because they felt I was approachable and seemed to trust me.

Q: What would you say to someone considering a major in human development?

LG: HDEV is one of the only majors I know where you can tailor the curriculum to what you want. There are required core classes, but you also have a lot of options. If you don’t want to take a class about mental health, you don’t have to. If you want to take classes related to education, you can do that. Also, in HDEV you really get a chance to know your professors and can establish good relationships. Human development can easily be applied to any career because no matter what, you’re going to be working with people. —Natalie Blando-George