Amana Liddell is on her pre-med track
Psychology major Amana Liddell (‘22) plans to pursue a career in pediatrics which has led her to a deep interest in developmental psychology that she has been able to explore both inside and outside of the classroom. As a research assistant in Dr. Jui Bhagwat’s Early Cognitive Development lab, she has been working on a study that investigates children’s understanding of germs, contagion, and COVID-19. This study has been conducted entirely online over Zoom, which has opened the door for them to recruit a diverse participant pool. Amana’s hope is that the findings from this study will provide further insight into how children understand the relationship between healthy behaviors and the risk of infection. This spring she is writing her senior thesis and presented this research at the annual Western Psychological Association Conference in Portland, Oregon.
She writes: “In addition to my research in developmental psychology, I was a 2020-2021 Bioethics Hackworth Fellow through the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. As a fellow, I researched how the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted Black communities. This project challenged me as the circumstances and impacts of the pandemic were constantly changing, but I was ultimately able to create an infographic for community members that provided accurate information about the history of mistrust in healthcare and the impact of the pandemic for Black Americans, as well as important points about vaccinations. After completing my Hackworth Fellowship, I spent Summer 2021 working with the Ethics Center on a project that aimed to increase vaccination rates in underserved communities. Specifically, I helped with a series of “Get Vaccinated” webinars that considered the ethicality of COVID-19 vaccines from a variety of perspectives. This year, I am a Health Care Ethics Intern, which has further introduced me to a wider array of ethical issues within healthcare and deepened my passion for ethics.
As a psychology and biology double major, I have been able to evaluate issues from two perspectives, which has helped me to think more deeply, critically, and comprehensively. As someone on a pre-medicine track and planning on applying to medical school after graduation, many of my psychology courses have helped me better understand people, which I hope to take into my future career to better understand patients and their unique attributes and circumstances.”