Name: Theresa Helen Diroff
Title of Program: Holistic Health with Latin American Culture
E-mail Address: tdiroff@utk.edu
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Year: Junior
Anticipated Graduation Date: May 2008
Description of Program: The purpose of this program is to provide a curriculum of natural and social science courses with a pre-holistic health concentration. It is a pre-medical program providing a basis for holistic health practices through classes in psychology, nutrition, and independent study. It also incorporates a research study at UT and abroad in Mexico of the application of holistic health within the Latin-American culture.
Departmental Emphases: Spanish, Biochemistry, Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gimmel and Dr. Gwinn
Plans after graduation (career, graduate/professional school, etc.): I plan to attend medical school, particularly at a medical school that offers insight to the practice of holistic medicine. I want to become a pediatrician with the ability to serve the Hispanic community here in the United States, and I want to do work in Latin American countries, where there is currently a desperate need for doctors.
Other Academic Interests: Spanish and Chemistry, which I plan to apply to my research study of an herb called epazote used in Mexico. I am also very interested in the psychological relationship to illness.
Prior Enrollment at Other Colleges or Universities:
Study Abroad: Summer of 2007 study in Mexico
Research Experiences or Internships: I work in Dr. Hughes’s biology research lab, where I do DNA sequencing. I have volunteered in the child life department of Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and I am currently a child life volunteer at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital here in Knoxville.
Part-time employment; Hobbies; Campus Clubs/Activities: I am vice president of the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society, a part-time private tutor, a member of the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, and have served on the Natural Sciences Curriculum Committee.
Additional Information: