GlobeMed Alumni Spotlight: February 2018
Interviewer: Jeslyn Koovakada
Interviewee: Darwin Baluran
Like many of his fellow GlobeMed alumni, Darwin Baluran is a passionate health equity and social justice advocate whose education and career plans have largely been shaped by his GlobeMed experience. Darwin graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2017 after earning a B.S. in Health Systems Management and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at Vanderbilt University. His experiences as a GROW intern and GlobalhealthU Coordinator helped inspire his research interests which include medical sociology and demography, health disparities, immigration, and the Asian disaspora. Read the interview below to learn more about Darwin’s career path and life after GlobeMed.
1.) What influenced your decision to enroll in graduate school immediately after completing your undergraduate education and how did you choose your field of study?
“When researching programs initially, I looked into both Public Health and Sociology programs, but I ultimately chose Sociology because I could go straight into a PhD program which would be financed whereas most Public Health programs wanted me to get a Master’s degree first which I would have had to pay for myself. Also, I did not want to box myself into doing only health-related research so Sociology allowed me to have some leeway to do other research about immigration and race that might not necessarily be health-related. My undergraduate mentor advised me to go straight into the PhD as long as I was sure about what I wanted to study and research. It is certainly a long process so I figured it was better to start early and it also made the most sense for me financially. Additionally, starting the program at this stage of my life really allows me to focus on my program since I do not have many other responsibilities or obligations outside of school.”
2.) Describe your typical day as a PhD student. How is graduate school different from your undergraduate experience?
“In graduate school, I only have three classes per semester which are usually later in the afternoon or evening so I generally stay up late at night reading because we read a book per week for each class. I spend a lot of time reading which can be kind of lonely and isolating sometimes. However, I do not have to take any exams, and most of our assessments are based on papers. When I am not reading or writing, I am a teaching assistant and I work on my research projects.”
3.) What do you do to keep yourself from feeling isolated while in graduate school, especially since you are in a different stage of your career than most of your peers?
“Most of my colleagues are older than me and in a different stage of life than I am so our relationships tend to feel more professional. I think it is important to find people at the university outside your own department to help feel a greater sense of community. I have also learned to cook this year which is my way of relaxing and I think it is important to find something you enjoy because graduate school can definitely be draining. However, one thing I really like about graduate school is that there is less emphasis on grades and the focus is more on becoming an expert at whatever it is that you want to do and you are really here to learn which is very different from the undergraduate mentality where the focus is often on grades. I also like that I have a lot of independence with regards to my research.”
4.) What are some examples of previous or current projects that relate to your field of study?
“In undergrad, my research project was focused on new Filipino immigrants in Chicago. I did a bunch of interviews with Filipino immigrants in the area and my main question was: ‘What are the barriers to healthcare access that Filipino immigrants face?’ Filipinos have some of the highest uninsured rates of the Asian groups in the country and my question really sought to understand why that is the case. I found that a lot of new immigrants, especially those with low-wage jobs, really prioritize sending money to their families back in the Philippines which I think goes back to the socialization of the culture and how family is prioritized over individual needs. This paired with the fact that a lot of these Filipino immigrants also belong in communities with other Filipino immigrants where they often lack information about health insurance options or even access to a car to go to a free clinic can all be barriers.
As a PhD student, I am required to work on publications so there are two papers I am currently working on. One is titled “Acculturation and Heart Disease” where I am looking at acculturation as a potential risk factor for heart disease, especially among Asian immigrants. The other project is a demography project where I am studying differences in mortality rates and life expectancies for the largest Asian ethnic groups in America. There are two reasons I wanted to work on this paper. First of all, in the public health literature, I noticed that Asians are often aggregated into one group. Additionally, in a lot of the demography literature, they often talk about how Asians have a mortality advantage, but since there are a lot of differences within the broader Asian racial category, I think it is inaccurate for us to say that Asians as a whole have an advantage over everyone else. My hypothesis is that the data will demonstrate that there is actually a lot of variation between Asian subgroups, with certain subgroups having an advantage over others.”
5.) What inspired this research and your focus on racial disparities?
“In general, I am interested in immigrants as a whole but I specifically focus on Asian immigrants because I think Asians are understudied in sociology and in research generally. For me, a lot of my focus is on combating this idea of Asians as a monolithic group because we have a lot of different histories and different experiences, compared to even other immigrant groups in the U.S. Also, as an Asian immigrant myself, a lot of my research questions are based off my own experiences and often have a health focus because of my experiences in GlobeMed.”
6.) What role has GlobeMed played in shaping your career and educational trajectory?
“I was Pre-Med when I started undergrad but after going on GROW, I started reconsidering my career path to having more of a focus on public health. After getting more involved in GlobeMed, especially with GlobalHealthU, I really fell in love with my job of leading discussions and engaging students in discussions related to health that go beyond the common things we know about health. I think being in GlobalHealthU was definitely life-changing for me because it showed me that there is a lot more to health than biology.”
7.) What are the most important skills you gained during your time in GlobeMed that you feel are applicable to your work today?
“I think the most important part is being able to think critically which sounds simple but especially as college students, we are trained to take in information and assume they are facts. However, what I learned from GlobeMed and especially now in graduate school is that you need to be able to think critically and be able to question the ideas that are being presented and not accept them all as the truth. For me, critical thinking was a big part of my GlobeMed experience especially when you talk about the determinants of health, health disparities, and different risk factors for certain conditions. Also, as a GlobalHealthU coordinator, just being able to speak in front of large groups was good training especially now since I work as a teaching assistant in graduate school. Lastly, an important skill to develop in graduate school is general social skills. Learn to be comfortable with small talk and also talking about your research. Networking is super important and knowing the right people is key, both to gain admission to the program and during the program itself.”
8.) What advice do you have for current GlobeMed students or alumni for how to leverage their GlobeMed experience into their professional careers?
“For current GlobeMed students, I recommend applying to Executive Board positions because I think they are good leadership experiences that allow you to see how the organization functions. Additionally, I would recommend taking GlobeMed seriously, especially when applying for Executive Board positions because it was really helpful to have that interview practice when applying for graduate school. Overall, I would say that it was important for me to internalize what we as an organization believed in and our GlobeMed values. When I was applying to graduate school, I think it showed in the way that I write that I am genuine about the things that I talk about. In my personal statements, I would talk about how I believe in public health and health equity but I didn’t just say them as buzzwords. I took them to heart because I knew what they meant and that was because in GlobeMed, we really take those values seriously.”
