Becoming a Doctor
Tina Sanghvi, class of 2003 | BS in Environmental Sciences | 2007 Graduate, University of Iowa College of Medicine | Intern, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, New York | Radiology Resident, University of Florida
"Even if you don’t yet know what you want to do with your life, an environmental major can be a stepping stone to a lot of different careers."
Growing up in small-town Iowa, Tina Sanghvi loved spending time outdoors enjoying the natural world. A research internship studying toxicology and health side effects at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences as a Duke sophomore turned her on to both medicine and the environment. For the next few years, Tina’s plate will be full with her medical internship and residency, but eventually she hopes to find opportunities to combine her medical and environmental interests through research.
Tina was one of the first students to sign up when the Nicholas School launched a new major, the BS in environmental sciences. Her favorite course was an environmental field research class that included weekly trips to places like Duke Forest, a rock quarry—even a cemetery.
"It was great to get out of the confines of the daily Duke routine, where you grab your coffee and your bagel and go to class, and to actually see the world around you,” she says. “It really gave me a different perspective, and I learned a lot."
Tina, who minored in chemistry, found the strong science background she gained at Duke very helpful in medical school. She says the science requirements for the environmental sciences major overlapped well with the requirements for medical school, while putting that science into a very interesting context.
For other Duke students considering careers in medicine, Tina offers this advice:
“If you’re pre-med, an environmental major is a great opportunity to be outdoors and to experience things that you might not be able to after you go into medicine. Plus, it’s a fun and interesting field.
"And if you don’t yet know what you want to do with your life,” she adds, “an environmental major allows you to explore, and it can be a great stepping stone to law, medicine, consulting, graduate school, or a lot of other pathways. I really, really enjoyed it."
