Career Outcomes
Your Success Story Is Waiting. Our students have a wide variety of options available to them after graduation and pursue many different paths. Some enter the workforce, while others seek a higher degree in a professional or academic field. MHS prepares students for professional training in medicine, nursing, law, management, and public health, and for graduate study in a variety of disciplines, such as anthropology, economics, history, literature, philosophy/ethics, or sociology. While the distribution changes from year to year, about half of our students enter medical or nursing school and a quarter pursue graduate degrees in public health, law, or other fields. Still others follow careers in hospital administration, health care consulting, nonprofits, research, and government.
Career Resources
Vanderbilt offers numerous health-related career resources. The Career Center advises students interested in non-clinical health care careers. Students pursuing a career in medicine should start with the Health Professions Advisory Office and be sure to get on the HPAO listserv. Other health professions resources at Vanderbilt include the Vanderbilt Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Society and the Vanderbilt Pre-Nursing Society.
Alumni Stories
David Amsalem BA’10, MD’15
“I feel light years ahead of medical students who did not come from a similar program like medicine, health, and society, because to be a good doctor it takes more than just understanding science. Vanderbilt is at the forefront of this type of patient-centered care—of not just treating the disease but treating the patient, too.”
Michael Cross, BA’12, MA’13
“With other majors—biology, neuroscience, chemistry—the focus is tunnel vision. Medicine, health, and society is ripping off those blinders and looking at every aspect of medicine. I have friends who work in health care technology or in finance, and the reason they are doing so well is because of the diversity of courses in medicine, health, and society and the quality of the professors who engage students and challenge them think critically about a bigger picture.”
Alexis Mundo, BA’17, MA’18
“The greatest thing about MHS is the interdisciplinary approach it takes in relation to studying health care and medicine. You have multiple options of classes and approaches that broaden your understanding of the topics and allow students to explore many extensive subjects. No other major enables this kind of exploration.”
Yulia Pleasant, BA’23
“I frequently drew on the knowledge of healthcare systems, laws, and disparities I gained from my MHS major at Vanderbilt,” says Yulia Pleasant. “I am so grateful to the MHS program at Vanderbilt for preparing me to start my career with a holistic understanding of the healthcare industry!” After graduation, Yulia began a new job in healthcare management at Northwell Health.
Kristi Troutman, BA’17, MA’18
“Studying MHS has been the perfect complement to my pre-med classes. I now not only understand the science behind medicine, but also the social and societal aspects as well. My MHS major has equipped me to provide better care to my future patients because it has taught me how to understand the greater context and needs of the people I am serving.
Luwi Shamambo, BA’19
Before beginning medical school at Emory University School of Medicine, Luwi Shamambo spent a year serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA at Boston Medical Center. Based on her experiences, Luwi published a reflection piece for the Journal of General Internal Medicine titled “Rethinking the Use of “Caucasian” in Clinical Language and Curricula: a Trainee’s Call to Action.” Luwi notes, “I found myself becoming increasingly distracted by the way race was inappropriately disregarded, unjustifiably overemphasized, and racial bias unknowingly perpetuated.” Using the knowledge she gained as an MHS student and her real-life experiences in Boston and now as a medical student, Luwi is making a difference in the lives of her patients.