By William Lineberry
Honors College

Esha Sharma has found much of her undergraduate learning outside the classroom. On Virginia Commonwealth University’s academic and medical campuses, she has participated in more than a half-dozen research projects – with topics as varied as blood-flow-related injuries, the bone structure of primates and using zebrafish to study leukemia.

Moving from one project to another, Sharma knew there was a connection she had yet to articulate that linked her interests in the humanities and the hard sciences.

“I realized that at VCU there was so much opportunity and freedom to do what you wanted to do and build your own path,” she said. “There has been such a diversity in the projects I was able to hop into. I was able to take part in research projects that are not necessarily related, that has really helped me weave together the bigger web of what I want to do … since I want to go into research as my career.”

Sharma graduates this spring from VCU’s Honors College and College of Humanities and Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in biology and minors in anthropology, chemistry and pre-medicine. And the link among her interests came into focus working with mentor Jennifer Bradley, Ph.D., in lab settings in the School of Medicine and School of Dentistry while simultaneously taking an anthropology course with Amy Rector, Ph.D. in the School of World Studies.

“Dr. Rector said something that totally changed my view on anthropology and how it can work to complement medicine. She said that in emergency rooms, there is a need for anthropologists,” Sharma said. “She went on to say that there are so many different types of people from different cultures who view pain and medicine in different contexts, and not everyone experiences illness and pain the same way medical students are taught. Anthropologists can help translate these differences to medical practitioners so they can more empathetically treat their patients.”

Rector’s lecture, along with subsequent research under primatologist and School of World Studies faculty member Marie Vergamini, connected the dots for Sharma, helping her see how her interests could be merged to advance patient care.

“This really helped me shape my career path and understand how I could weave together anthropology and biology to work in emergency medicine,” said Sharma, who plans to pursue medical school and a Ph.D. in medical anthropology, with the goal of specializing in emergency room care.

It wasn’t just in research labs and lecture halls where Sharma found formative experiences as an undergraduate. Her semester studying abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, was formative.

“It was a very changing moment for me,” said the native of Glen Allen in Henrico County, near VCU’s downtown campus. “I had never really lived outside of Richmond for my entire life. I just learned so much about living in a new place and adjusting to a new culture. It really developed my global perspective for medicine in general, too. As a physician, it’s important to have experiences like this.”

Sharma said those perspectives – and her appreciation of the VCU experience – will power her ongoing studies and emerging career.

“A big part of my VCU journey has been rooted in research and getting experiences through pursuing research,” she said. “I place empathy at the top of my values. It’s so important to understand people just beyond their surfaces. Some of the research that I want to do is how to create a rise in empathy in the health care system. How can doctors be stronger and help their patients by using more empathy? That’s what I want to look at.”