Hello! I’m Prachi Verma (pronouns she/her), a fifth year transfer student. As a transfer student, I felt extremely pressed for time to explore different opportunities and develop both professionally and academically in my two short years. Over time though, I learned that every “lost” opportunity opened more doors than it shut. I shifted my focus more on my interests rather than what I felt professional schools would want to see from me. My firsthand experience with healthcare has driven my critical lens of pedagogy and conventional healthcare and public health practices. I’m one of the founding members of the Global Perspectives Initiative, a student driven initiative which emphasizes faculty-student collaboration and student input in developing sustainable GDB curriculum focusing on under-addressed themes. In addition I serve on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee for CA&ES, am a Social Services Coordinator for the student run clinic Bayanihan, am a Policy Coordinator at FreeThePeriod (a menstrual equity advocacy organization originally founded through UC Davis), and am a co-course developer and co-instructor for a future Asian American Studies student-led course. Through the course, I plan to encourage students to develop their own critical lenses and critique of their current interests and future professional fields.

I came to Davis because of the unique One Health and holistic approach GDB offers. To me, GDB provided an opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone by taking more humanities-based courses which took social justice and racial justice lenses. I could simultaneously balance those courses by delving into public health and developing a better understanding of the intersections of health. My experiences through GDB have encouraged me to become more critical of the norm and I plan to carry and further develop this mindset as I move forward. I plan to apply to medical schools in the near future and perhaps also pursue an MPH, and in my gap year I plan to continue working with the Global Perspectives Team and may simply take time to explore life outside of university.