Kar-Hai Chu, an associate professor in the School of Public Health, serves as an electus faculty fellow in the David C. Frederick Honors College. As part of Chu’s Honors 1010: Health Science Complexities course, six students had the opportunity to visit the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, to encounter healthcare topics they have been discussing in class in a practical setting.
During the trip to the NIH campus, students visited their library, main clinical research hospital, and met with Pamela Marcus, a program director at the National Cancer Institute, to discuss topics like prevention versus treatment, the pros and cons of screening and healthcare costs. Marcus also gave students a tour of several other facilities on the NIH campus.
Chu’s students then visited the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) building where they spoke with LT Stephanie Pitts, a health scientist administrator, about healthcare delivery, grants and awards and legislation and policy making.
On the last evening of their visit, students went sightseeing in the nation’s capital.