“Work hard at something that means a lot to you,” said Rotary Global Scholar Sally Yan. She is a graduate of Houston’s Rice University with a B.S in Biosciences. Her Rotary Global Scholarship will send Ms. Yan to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She’ll be participating in a nine-month full-time MPhil Health, Medicine, and Society course run jointly by the Departments of History and Philosophy of Science, Sociology and Social Anthropology. When she returns to Texas she'll start medical school.
Story by Bruce Wood with contributions and photos by Jim Polomsky and Kat Sison.
“Work hard at something that means a lot to you,” said Rotary Global Scholar Sally Yan. That was her advice for students and her Lake Houston Rotarian audience during her talk at their regular luncheon meeting on Wednesday, May 11th at the Lake Houston Family YMCA in Kingwood.
Ms. Yan is a graduate of Houston’s Rice University with a B.S in Biosciences (Concentration in Cell Biology and Genetics). She is fluent in English, Mandrian Chinese and Spanish. She is planning on becoming a doctor and attending medical school in Texas.
She is lives in Sugar Land but is from Beijing, China. After moving here, she observed people assumed she would have difficulty learning because of her lack of English fluency but she was a quick study and ended up at Rice University.
As part of her Rice education the university sent her to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi to research low-cost medical devices.
Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self” is central to her goals in life. She aspires to be good at something that will help improve society. Ms. Yan is building a vision of how society might be better by doing the work she does.
She is interested in studying infectious diseases, because they affect the marginalized population dramatically and do not receive proportionate attention or funding to resolve the problem. She provided the example of Hookworm. The last parasite studies were conducted and published in the 1980s.
Before attending medical school, Ms. Yan sought the opportunity to receive a Rotary Global Scholarship to delve into the intersection of health and society. She is applying now to medical schools in Texas including Dell in Austin, Baylor College of Medicine in Waco, other institutions with the goal of starting when she completes her scholarship.
Her Rotary Global Scholarship will send Ms. Yan to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She’ll be participating in a nine-month full-time MPhil Health, Medicine, and Society course run jointly by the Departments of History and Philosophy of Science, Sociology and Social Anthropology.
It introduces students from a range of backgrounds to research skills and specialized knowledge relevant to their research interests, and provides them with the opportunity to carry out focused research under close supervision by senior members of the University.
Students will develop a critical and well-informed understanding of discourses of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of health and medicine, and those intending to go on to doctoral work will learn the skills needed to help them prepare a well-planned and focused PhD proposal.
While in Cambridge, she plans to volunteer at a local hospital or local ambulance service with National Health Services (NHS). She will attend meetings at the Rotary Club of Sawston.
During the course, Ms. Yan will attend lectures, and research seminars in technical and specialized subjects central to her research in the areas of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of health and medicine.
She will complete three essays over the course of 9 months (October to May), working closely with supervisors to address a range of topics covered by her course work. Ms. Yan plans to write a dissertation related to the history of tropical disease control in U.S. or China in consultation with her supervisor. Dissertation seminars give students the opportunity to gain experience in presenting their own work and discussing the issues that arise from it with an audience of their peers and senior members of staff.
Rotary Global Scholar Scholarships are grants provided to fund international graduate level study or research for one to four academic years by people seeking a career in one of Rotary’s areas of focus.
Rotary’s areas of focus are: Peacebuilding and conflict prevention; Disease prevention and treatment; Water, sanitation, and hygiene; Maternal and child health; Basic education and literacy; Community economic development and the Environment.
The grant recipient’s project must have a minimum budget of $30,000, provide a long-term, sustainable impact, address an important need identified by the community and strengthen the community’s capacity to address it own needs.
A key feature of global grants is the partnership between the Rotary District and/or an individual Rotary Club in the study location and the district or club in the scholar’s home country.
A key feature of global grants is the partnership between the Rotary District and/or an individual Rotary Club in the study location and the district or club in the scholar’s home country.
The purpose of the Global Scholar program is to educate and put some of the best young minds to work helping to solve real-world problems to improve people’s health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area members and guests meet at 11:45 a.m. Wednesdays for their weekly lunch meeting at the Lake Houston Family YMCA, 2420 West Lake Houston Pkwy. in Kingwood.
The Summer Creek Satellite Club meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 8:30 a.m., at Generation Park 3rd floor Nimble Office Suite, 250 Assay St., Houston.
For more information about Rotary or membership, visit www.LHARotary.com or search for our Facebook page @LakeHoustonAreaRotary.