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The daughter of two physicians, Janna Gewirtz grew up on Long Island listening to conversations about health policy at home and filing papers in her mother’s office, a practice devoted to treating the whole patient.
“American culture looks at illness and says, ‘How do we cure it?’ but I want to change that,” says Gewirtz, a double major in biology and health & society. “I really believe in a more proactive approach, that you should treat the entire body and prevent illness before it happens.”
While in medical school, Gewirtz, who held a summer job at the Department of Health in London nearly two years ago, plans to study abroad to learn about other traditional health care systems. She ultimately wants to work in public health policy, though she’s unsure whether on a domestic or international scale.
She does know that the leadership skills she attained as Students’ Association vice president and Kappa Delta vice president of operations her junior year, and as a senator her senior year, will serve her well in her career. Gewirtz urges others to take advantage of the University’s “holistic approach to education”—a healthy, hearty mix of academics and student activities.
“I definitely have grown as a person on this campus,” she says. “You don’t get this freedom anywhere else.”
