Class Year: 2021
Major: Biology, on a pre-med track
Minor: Social Work
What’s your favorite thing about Case Western Reserve University?
How accessible the professors are. It’s a small thing, but I’ve heard from friends at other universities that they don’t know who to get recommendation letters from for their med school applications; they tell me their faculty don’t seem approachable. I have a lot of great relationships with professors here.
About Kate:
Kate Haering chose Case Western Reserve University because of its strong pre-med program, great research and volunteer opportunities, and its student-run EMS organization. Her first year she declared a major in biology and took a full STEM course load.
Upon entering her second year though, she realized she wanted to expand her undergraduate curriculum beyond purely STEM courses and give herself a more holistic education while the opportunity was available.
So, she took one of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences’ social work classes and quickly realized it was exactly what she was looking for to round out her curriculum.
“I’ve loved all of the social work courses I’ve taken, from ‘Drugs and Youth’ to ‘Adoption Practice and Policy,’” Haering says. “Through the Mandel School, I’ve even gotten to study abroad in the Netherlands with Dean Gilmore and learn more about socialized medicine. I highly recommend the social work minor to anyone and everyone, as the skills you learn are applicable in virtually every profession.”
Through an internship at MetroHealth Hospital last summer, Haering realized social determinants of health is a big topic in medicine right now. Combining what she learned in the classroom with her real-world experience, she quickly learned that understanding the aggregate disadvantages others may be facing is crucial in establishing a successful connection.