The Morehead Honors College prepares students for medical school and graduate education in the health sciences.

By Chuck Toney

It was an opportunity long in the making. When the University of Georgia announced that the state had approved the creation of a new School of Medicine, Meg Amstutz, the dean of the Morehead Honors College, knew that her students and staff were poised for this historic moment.

“We have been successfully preparing UGA’s best students for admission to medical school and graduate education in the health sciences for a long time,” she said. “There has been a buzz in the Honors College since the medical school announcement was made—many of our students want to be in the inaugural class. They want to be part of something historic.”

The Morehead Honors College, founded in 1960 with a handful of classes and about 40 students, now serves more than 2,900 undergraduates each year. Through small class sizes, internship programs, travel-study funding, research opportunities, faculty connections, scholarship support, early registration, and alumni networks, the Honors College opens doors to the best the university has to offer. Those doors often lead to careers in health professions.

Aaron Dino, left, keeps records at a Ghana vaccination clinic in 2023.

Honors alumnus Aaron Dino, from St. Marys, earned his bachelor’s degree in health promotion. Passionate about health equity, Aaron led community-based projects in rural Georgia and Alabama and has presented research on childhood disability advocacy training and measles mathematical modeling.

“UGA has a mission to address the needs of Georgia, and the new School of Medicine is meeting that need. It’s a perfect marriage,” Aaron said. “Through medicine, I’m executing my personal mission for community engagement with underserved populations. What I have learned through the Medical Partnership and through its faculty is a philosophy of really caring about addressing what is local.”

Through working with the Athens Free Clinic, volunteering with Mercy Health Center, shadowing physicians in Southeast Georgia Health System, and coordinating outreach with the Lake Country Rural Health Initiative, Aaron is driven to bring health care directly to those who needed it most, even before he was able to attend medical school.

“Medicine demands an unwavering attention and comprehensive understanding of each individual’s unique story to prevent them from being lost in a sea of statistics,” he said. “I want to be a physician to land an individualized, indelible impact on those affected by health disparities.”

Aaron will begin medical school at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in the fall.

Saanvikha Saravanan, right, and Vybhavi Kotireddy worked with Susan Waltman at the Greater New York Hospital Association in 2024.

Honors alumna Saanvikha Saravanan, from Suwanee, is planning a career in health policy and law, and has taken advantage of the Honors College’s record of success in preparing students. She just embarked on a two-year commitment as a federal health care consultant in Washington, D.C. Following that, she plans to enroll in law school and pursue a career in international health law. Honors, she said, has provided support far beyond what she had imagined when she enrolled at UGA.

“The resources that are provided for students and the advocacy that the staff provide are amazing,” she said. “The Honors College pushes and supports us to seize opportunities and make the most of them.”

Saanvikha cites two particular opportunities through which the Honors College gave her the chance to do things she never would have been able to do otherwise. She has received funding to travel and present research at national student conferences, such as the Stanford Undergraduate Research Conference. She also participated in the Honors in New York Internship Program with Susan Waltman, special counsel for the Greater New York Hospital Association and an emerita trustee of the UGA Foundation, as her mentor.

“That was by far the best semester I’ve had at UGA,” she said. “I have always been interested in the intersection of business, policy, and health care, and this internship gave me the opportunity to see that world up close. Ms. Waltman is one of my favorite people ever and an amazing mentor. She invests so much in Honors students by finding projects for us, securing internships, and making connections with leading people in the medical and health fields to enhance our experience. I am forever grateful.”

Among the dozens of courses offered by Honors each semester are those directly related to the pursuit of medical and health sciences careers. Honors students can select from many courses in preparation for medical school in the STEM fields and other areas.

“Our students are fortunate to have these courses taught by outstanding faculty who do an excellent job of teaching and mentoring them,” Amstutz said. “I am certain that their commitment to teaching is critical to the success our students have in the medical student application process.”

Among these course offerings are:

• Literature & Medicine: Using reading, discussion, and interpretation of literary texts that include medical themes, students focus on issues that medical professionals encounter in their daily practice: empathy, illness, suffering, death, dialogue, relationships, and the power of the human story.
• Introduction to Disease: Students explore the many ways diseases can be caused in the body, how they happen and, in some cases, how they can be prevented.
• Biomedical Ethics: The course introduces students to important problems in ethical and philosophical issues that arise in the context of medicine and bioresearch and develops a decision framework for their resolution.
• Medical Sociology: Students explore topics such as the social sources of illness, social distribution of illness and health conditions, and social meanings of illness.

Honors long ago decided to be innovative and intentional in providing support to its students. The core academic courses build the direct knowledge base, Assistant Dean Maria de Rocher said. What would separate UGA students from others was a fully rounded education that included reading literature and nonfiction books about the field and engaging in discussion groups; hosting book discussions led by faculty; providing writing support for the medical school and graduate education application process; offering funding for a wide range of study abroad opportunities; and collaborating with the UGA Career Center’s Pre-Professional Advising Office.

“These programs and activities help students clarify and articulate for themselves why they are pursuing this path. It is a process of self-discovery,” de Rocher explained. “It is particularly helpful for them to start the writing process for their applications early to clarify what their motivations are and why they want to do this. They need to demonstrate that they have reflected broadly on this decision.”

A recent Honors book discussion led by Emma Laing, clinical professor of nutritional sciences and director of UGA’s dietetics programs, focused on “Anti-Diet: Reclaim your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating.” Shelley Nuss, founding dean of the School of Medicine, updated a large and enthusiastic group of Honors students on the new school’s progress.

There are two student-led Medicine in Literature book clubs in Honors. Students select the books in consultation with de Rocher and meet to discuss them. Recent titles include:

• “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care” by T.R. Reid
• “The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir” by Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson
• “Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter” by Kate Clifford Larson
• “Telltale Hearts: A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story” by Dean David Schillinger.

Elizabeth Hughes, a student affairs professional, provides writing support for Honors students who are applying for internships and scholarships, seeking professional opportunities, and beginning the application process for medical or graduate school. She works closely with juniors and seniors as they draft their personal statements and provides mock interview practice tailored to their individual applications.

As UGA enters an important new era in its standing as a research university with the addition of a School of Medicine, the Morehead Honors College will bring decades of experience and practice to bear on its integration into the university’s academic life. It is as if, Amstutz says, this was the plan all along.

“What the Honors College has done over many years is think creatively about how we can best support our students who are focused on medical and health-related careers,” she said. “Whether they enroll in medical school in Athens or in programs across the country, these students are preparing themselves well for important, much-needed roles.”