Three ideas: 1. Demonstrate ecological relationships happening WITHIN human bodies (intestinal microbiome, etc.) 2. Disabuse the students of the notion that humans and human biology are somehow separate from ecological communities as a whole 3. Give students an unusual ecology education experience by partnering with community organizations. For example, in our state, we have ecology students at Evergreen College working together with local prisons through the Sustainability in Prisons <http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/> project to raise endangered species or carry out vermiculture inside the prisons. Many students going into the medical field might find it meaningful to know both more about ecology and about the cycles of poverty, violence, and incarceration that may affect the people they one day serve, be it through medical care or pharmaceutical research.
On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 11:20 AM, Beck, Christopher <cb...@emory.edu> wrote: > Back in 2012, several colleagues and I published a letter in Science on > adding ecology to the pre-med curriculum. (Beck, et al. 2012. Add Ecology > to the Pre-Medical Curriculum. Science: 1301. Science: 1301. > http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.335.6074.1301-a.) As a part of that > article, we developed an ecology-based competency for pre-med students and > provided some resources. You can check it out at > http://www.esa.org/esa/education-and-diversity/issues/ecology-in-the-pre-medical-curriculum/ > . > > Also, with the change in the MCAT in 2015, there is an increased emphasis > on statistical literacy, something that could be taught in the context of > ecology. Students who have taken my ecology course and then the MCATs have > told me that learning basic statistical literacy and data interpretation > skills in my ecology course helped them on the MCATs. > > Chris > > Dr. Christopher Beck > Department of Biology > Emory University > Atlanta, GA 30322 > > christopher.b...@emory.edu > > 404-712-9012 > FAX 404-727-2880 > > > > ________________________________ > > This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of > the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged > information. If the reader of this message is not the intended > recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution > or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly > prohibited. > > If you have received this message in error, please contact > the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the > original message (including attachments). >
