Entering Kenyon, Mackenzie Bruzzio ’20 knew she wanted to pursue medicine in some way for a career. But the biochemistry and Spanish double major also felt torn: “I had this other half of me that was firmly rooted in the humanities,” she explained, and she wasn’t sure whether she’d have to choose between her two interests.
But through her liberal arts experience, “what felt like two separate worlds for a long time finally crashed together.” Bruzzio has drawn on both her majors this past year as she volunteers with Partners in Health in Chiapas, Mexico, where she manages data collection and analysis and helps facilitate the program.
“There’s a saying in medicine that your ZIP code matters more than your genetic code. Kenyon helped me see that broader view of medicine, and that humanities perspectives are important to the field. What helped me decide to go into medicine was that I could see myself being able to integrate everything that I was really passionate about,” said Bruzzio, who also played volleyball at Kenyon.
Now, Bruzzio is preparing to attend medical school in fall 2021, a path that was informed by a “Health Service and Biomedical Analysis” course she took her junior year. The class required students to volunteer weekly at Knox Community Hospital or another local health care provider.
“A lot of the med schools I’ve applied to were interested to see that on my application,” Bruzzio said. “It was a really unique experience. Since Knox Community Hospital is in a rural environment, you see things come through the emergency department that you would not see elsewhere.”
