Lauren Seale-Sarkipato came to LSA to study science and prepare to be an M.D.-Ph.D.—a physician scientist who could make discoveries in the lab in addition to working directly with patients. Her classes during her first year were science, math, and more science—except for one: a seminar offered by the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS).
“I loved that class. I looked forward to it every time—the discussions, the people in the class. I enjoyed my science classes, too, but the DAAS seminar was my favorite part of my week,” she recalls. “It sent me into a tailspin.”
How could an engaging class, one that she enjoyed so much, cause an existential crisis? The reason, she says, is that the experience made her question her plan, the one that she was determined to follow the moment she set foot in Ann Arbor.
“I started to think, I don’t want to be a scientist, but I do really like these other classes. I was going back and forth between choosing DAAS as a major and choosing to do a biological science discipline,” recalls Seale-Sarkipato (B.S. ’12, M.D. ’18). “I thought, This is the right place for me. I don’t need to be a traditional pre-med student with a biology degree. I can do what I’m passionate about right now, and it’s going to help me in the future.”
After much soul searching, she opted to pursue a pre-med path, but not to work toward an M.D.-Ph.D. She was able to make DAAS her major and still take all of the science courses that would prepare her for the MCAT. All of her preparation and hard work paved the way for her admission to the U-M Medical School.
“I think that the benefit of being at LSA is that I had the flexibility to decide,” she says. “If I had been in a different environment, even a different college within the university, I wouldn’t have had that flexibility to shift. And I think that is one of the benefits of a liberal arts education, is that ability to flex your interest.”
Today, she is a dermatologist who practices in Okemos and Brighton, Michigan—one of a small number of Black dermatologists in the country, comprising a total of about three percent of the profession. One of her specialties is treating hair disorders, an interest that grew from a research paper she wrote as an undergrad at LSA.
“I wrote about the politics of hair and experiences in early Black American history,” she recalls. “When I think about that, I can see that LSA really gives you the opportunity to do things that may be more traditional and expected, and then also explore your passion. Both of those things helped me get where I am today.”
Lauren Seale-Sarkipato came to LSA to study science and prepare to be an M.D.-Ph.D.—a physician scientist who could make discoveries in the lab in addition to working directly with patients. Her classes during her first year were science, math, and more science—except for one: a seminar offered by the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS).
“I loved that class. I looked forward to it every time—the discussions, the people in the class. I enjoyed my science classes, too, but the DAAS seminar was my favorite part of my week,” she recalls. “It sent me into a tailspin.”
How could an engaging class, one that she enjoyed so much, cause an existential crisis? The reason, she says, is that the experience made her question her plan, the one that she was determined to follow the moment she set foot in Ann Arbor.
“I started to think, I don’t want to be a scientist, but I do really like these other classes. I was going back and forth between choosing DAAS as a major and choosing to do a biological science discipline,” recalls Seale-Sarkipato (B.S. ’12, M.D. ’18). “I thought, This is the right place for me. I don’t need to be a traditional pre-med student with a biology degree. I can do what I’m passionate about right now, and it’s going to help me in the future.”
After much soul searching, she opted to pursue a pre-med path, but not to work toward an M.D.-Ph.D. She was able to make DAAS her major and still take all of the science courses that would prepare her for the MCAT. All of her preparation and hard work paved the way for her admission to the U-M Medical School.
“I think that the benefit of being at LSA is that I had the flexibility to decide,” she says. “If I had been in a different environment, even a different college within the university, I wouldn’t have had that flexibility to shift. And I think that is one of the benefits of a liberal arts education, is that ability to flex your interest.”
Today, she is a dermatologist who practices in Okemos and Brighton, Michigan—one of a small number of Black dermatologists in the country, comprising a total of about three percent of the profession. One of her specialties is treating hair disorders, an interest that grew from a research paper she wrote as an undergrad at LSA.
“I wrote about the politics of hair and experiences in early Black American history,” she recalls. “When I think about that, I can see that LSA really gives you the opportunity to do things that may be more traditional and expected, and then also explore your passion. Both of those things helped me get where I am today.”
Seale-Sarkipato’s journey exemplifies one of LSA’s greatest strengths: providing a liberal arts and sciences education that offers rigor, a broad array of majors, flexibility, and preparation for the next phase of graduates’ lives.
“This may surprise people, but LSA is one of the best places to prepare for med school in the world,” says Timothy McKay, associate dean for undergraduate education at LSA. McKay—who is also an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and professor of physics, astronomy, and education—cites data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that show U-M as one of the top five “feeder” schools into medical schools. While other colleges at U-M contribute to the total, the majority are from LSA.
U-M’s Medical School is just one of the top programs that LSA graduates attend. The college also sends graduates to the medical schools at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and more.
LSA doesn’t offer a pre-med major, but instead supports students in choosing a path that’s best for them. Many who go on to medical school major in biology or related areas, such as biology, health, and society (BHS), or biology, cognition, and neuroscience (BCN). Others are drawn to majors in the humanities or social sciences, like the gender and health major in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.
Regardless of their major, each student at LSA is exposed to a wide array of courses in which they study the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. “The power of a liberal arts and sciences education stems from a holistic approach, where students are encouraged to explore multiple disciplines, to think creatively, and to follow their own intellectual curiosity. This comprehensive approach to education opens doors to a vast array of career options and future possibilities,” says Dean Rosario Ceballo.
Jen Oza Grysko, associate director for pre-professional advising at LSA’s Newnan Academic Advising Center, says there isn’t a “magical checkbox for what a student has to achieve to get into med school. There isn’t an algorithm: a plus b equals ‘you’re in.’”
The most important thing she tells students is that they have to stay true to who they are and make sure they can articulate what interests them. For some, they might be drawn to the scientific foundations of medicine.
Others might light up more when they talk about their love of writing, volunteering with a community group, or learning a language. “I tell students all the time to identify that spark,” she says.
Regardless of a student’s major, they will graduate from LSA with a well-rounded education, she points out. “Our curriculum is built in a way that you can’t graduate by taking just your major courses,” Oza Grysko says.
Seale-Sarkipato’s journey exemplifies one of LSA’s greatest strengths: providing a liberal arts and sciences education that offers rigor, a broad array of majors, flexibility, and preparation for the next phase of graduates’ lives.
“This may surprise people, but LSA is one of the best places to prepare for med school in the world,” says Timothy McKay, associate dean for undergraduate education at LSA. McKay—who is also an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and professor of physics, astronomy, and education—cites data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that show U-M as one of the top five “feeder” schools into medical schools. While other colleges at U-M contribute to the total, the majority are from LSA.
U-M’s Medical School is just one of the top programs that LSA graduates attend. The college also sends graduates to the medical schools at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and more.
LSA doesn’t offer a pre-med major, but instead supports students in choosing a path that’s best for them. Many who go on to medical school major in biology or related areas, such as biology, health, and society (BHS), or biology, cognition, and neuroscience (BCN). Others are drawn to majors in the humanities or social sciences, like the gender and health major in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.
Regardless of their major, each student at LSA is exposed to a wide array of courses in which they study the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. “The power of a liberal arts and sciences education stems from a holistic approach, where students are encouraged to explore multiple disciplines, to think creatively, and to follow their own intellectual curiosity. This comprehensive approach to education opens doors to a vast array of career options and future possibilities,” says Dean Rosario Ceballo.
Jen Oza Grysko, associate director for pre-professional advising at LSA’s Newnan Academic Advising Center, says there isn’t a “magical checkbox for what a student has to achieve to get into med school. There isn’t an algorithm: a plus b equals ‘you’re in.’”
The most important thing she tells students is that they have to stay true to who they are and make sure they can articulate what interests them. For some, they might be drawn to the scientific foundations of medicine.
Others might light up more when they talk about their love of writing, volunteering with a community group, or learning a language. “I tell students all the time to identify that spark,” she says.
Regardless of a student’s major, they will graduate from LSA with a well-rounded education, she points out. “Our curriculum is built in a way that you can’t graduate by taking just your major courses,” Oza Grysko says.
Medical schools like Michigan’s review much more than just test scores when considering applications. To assemble a new class of medical students, they are looking at individual qualities as well as the makeup of the class as a whole.
“We’re looking at the breadth and depth of their experiences. You don’t need an office of admissions if you’re just going to look at grades and scores,” says Steven E. Gay, M.D., clinical professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center. For 15 years, he was dean of admissions at the U-M Medical School.
Gay is a proponent of the kind of approach LSA takes to educating undergrads and preparing them for opportunities such as medical school. He was a biology major at Yale as an undergrad, with an emphasis on molecular genetics. “However, the second largest number of classes that I took were in philosophy and English. I did this because I wanted to understand people and to understand the world,” he recalls.
Medical schools like Michigan’s review much more than just test scores when considering applications. To assemble a new class of medical students, they are looking at individual qualities as well as the makeup of the class as a whole.
“We’re looking at the breadth and depth of their experiences. You don’t need an office of admissions if you’re just going to look at grades and scores,” says Steven E. Gay, M.D., clinical professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center. For 15 years, he was dean of admissions at the U-M Medical School.
Gay is a proponent of the kind of approach LSA takes to educating undergrads and preparing them for opportunities such as medical school. He was a biology major at Yale as an undergrad, with an emphasis on molecular genetics. “However, the second largest number of classes that I took were in philosophy and English. I did this because I wanted to understand people and to understand the world,” he recalls.
All of these areas have served him well in his career. He talks of a patient who—along with most of the patient’s family—wanted the patient’s life support withdrawn. But one family member’s interpretation of his faith made him reluctant to support the decision. Gay sat down with the family, “listened to everything they had to say, and I said very simply, ‘I’m just a man, and I make medical decisions. And if God doesn’t want to take somebody home, whether or not I stop the ventilator, they’re not going to go.’ … And he looked at me, and he said, ‘You’re absolutely right.’ I think the philosophy that I studied, the religion that I studied, certainly assisted me in communicating with that family.”
He adds: “Medicine is a science, but it is also an art. I think the true gift of higher education is the ability to experience things that we don’t understand, to give us greater understanding of our world, of our society, of various situations of science, and in becoming a well-rounded, thoughtful, detailed person. All of that, together, will help you to know and understand that art.”
Academic year 2025-2026; sources: AAMC, U-M Career Center
Academic year 2025-2026; sources: AAMC, U-M Career Center
Academic year 2025-2026; sources: AAMC, U-M Career Center
All of these areas have served him well in his career. He talks of a patient who—along with most of the patient’s family—wanted the patient’s life support withdrawn. But one family member’s interpretation of his faith made him reluctant to support the decision. Gay sat down with the family, “listened to everything they had to say, and I said very simply, ‘I’m just a man, and I make medical decisions. And if God doesn’t want to take somebody home, whether or not I stop the ventilator, they’re not going to go.’ … And he looked at me, and he said, ‘You’re absolutely right.’ I think the philosophy that I studied, the religion that I studied, certainly assisted me in communicating with that family.”
He adds: “Medicine is a science, but it is also an art. I think the true gift of higher education is the ability to experience things that we don’t understand, to give us greater understanding of our world, of our society, of various situations of science, and in becoming a well-rounded, thoughtful, detailed person. All of that, together, will help you to know and understand that art.”
Lisa Harris, M.D., Ph.D., a physician at Michigan Medicine and professor of women’s and gender studies in LSA, approached her own education in a way that helped her to understand the science and the art of medicine. She was an English major as an undergraduate and, during her medical school interview at Harvard, where she ultimately attended, she talked mostly about a paper she had written about fertility imagery in Macbeth. Her experiences studying English, women’s and gender studies, history, and art history “prepared me well for life as a physician, especially as a physician who cares largely for women and pregnant people.”
She joined the faculty of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Michigan Medicine, specializing in reproductive medicine, and she observed that many issues in reproductive health have to do as much with culture and politics as with biomedical sciences. That led her back to school to pursue and earn a doctorate in American culture from LSA while she was working as a physician.
Now—in addition to her multiple faculty roles and work as a clinician—as director of LSA’s Health Sciences Scholars Program she is helping undergrads who are interested in health and medical careers to determine their future paths.
An undergraduate experience at LSA can build a solid foundation for medical school, she says. Harris says that the U-M Medical School and LSA “do a good job of cross-pollinating,” with “more crossover between the med school and undergrad life than any other school in the country,” as far as she is aware. Still, the close proximity of LSA and the Medical School could be maximized in even more ways, she says.
“What we do well is prepare a lot of students who want to go into medical or health care careers for the MCAT and the admissions process,” Harris says. “What we could be even better at is convincing people who want to go into health care that being an English major, being an art history major, being a history major, not only will be good for them as future health care providers but probably will help them get into med school because they’ll just be that much more interesting and aware of the human experience.”
Students who understand the humanities and social sciences, in addition to the natural sciences, will be better prepared to practice medicine, she says—especially as we move toward an increasing use of AI in health care.
“AI can score 100 percent on the medical boards. Humans cannot,” Harris points out. “It really starts to raise the question of the purpose of human doctors. We clearly need to be the human part of humane care. Our humanity and compassion and sensibility and judgment—that is the key part, especially moving into the future.”
One of the students in the Health Sciences Scholars Program that Harris directs is senior Diala Ajaero. He has made the most of his LSA experience by majoring in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, and also taking classes in a variety of other areas, such as a Scandinavian history class, economics, and more. He and another student even founded a company that was funded in part by optiMize at LSA and recently won first prize at the Michigan Healthcare Business Club pitch competition: Cre•ADE, which makes bite-sized creatine supplements designed for health-conscious students, professionals, and others.
“I like to try new things,” says Ajaero, who also is fluent or conversant in three languages.
Going into his second year at U-M, Ajaero’s uncle passed due to cancer. While Ajaero had wanted to go to medical school even before that, his sadness led to a new mission: He applied to several cancer-centric labs at Michigan Medicine, and was hired to do coding, stem cell cultures, and other work in the lab of Carl Koschmann, M.D., the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Research Professor of Pediatrics.
“I thought, If I can do work that directly impacts these patients’ lives, maybe to elongate their lives or give them a better course of treatment, that makes this work very significant,” he says. “I like having the chance to have that kind of impact on someone’s life.”
He plans to work on Cre•ADE and other endeavors for the next year while applying to medical schools, with a goal of starting the next chapter of his education in summer 2027.
Emily Lerner is a fourth-year student at the U-M Medical School. The LSA alum (B.S. ’20) chose an unconventional major on her path to med school: Polish. She was the only person in her graduating year who had a degree in the language.
“It was my hardest class all throughout my four years. Language doesn’t come easily to me,” she says. “I think the most important thing it taught me, as it applies to the last four years, is knowing how to learn. Medical school is a lot of self-directed learning. We do clinical rotations our second year, so you’re in the hospital during the day, then you come home and you learn on your own at night.”
One of the students in the Health Sciences Scholars Program that Harris directs is senior Diala Ajaero. He has made the most of his LSA experience by majoring in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, and also taking classes in a variety of other areas, such as a Scandinavian history class, economics, and more. He and another student even founded a company that was funded in part by optiMize at LSA and recently won first prize at the Michigan Healthcare Business Club pitch competition: Cre•ADE, which makes bite-sized creatine supplements designed for health-conscious students, professionals, and others.
“I like to try new things,” says Ajaero, who also is fluent or conversant in three languages.
Going into his second year at U-M, Ajaero’s uncle passed due to cancer. While Ajaero had wanted to go to medical school even before that, his sadness led to a new mission: He applied to several cancer-centric labs at Michigan Medicine, and was hired to do coding, stem cell cultures, and other work in the lab of Carl Koschmann, M.D., the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Research Professor of Pediatrics.
“I thought, If I can do work that directly impacts these patients’ lives, maybe to elongate their lives or give them a better course of treatment, that makes this work very significant,” he says. “I like having the chance to have that kind of impact on someone’s life.”
He plans to work on Cre•ADE and other endeavors for the next year while applying to medical schools, with a goal of starting the next chapter of his education in summer 2027.
Emily Lerner is a fourth-year student at the U-M Medical School. The LSA alum (B.S. ’20) chose an unconventional major on her path to med school: Polish. She was the only person in her graduating year who had a degree in the language.
“It was my hardest class all throughout my four years. Language doesn’t come easily to me,” she says. “I think the most important thing it taught me, as it applies to the last four years, is knowing how to learn. Medical school is a lot of self-directed learning. We do clinical rotations our second year, so you’re in the hospital during the day, then you come home and you learn on your own at night.”
Next up for Lerner is a residency, then a fellowship. She’d like the fellowship to focus on geriatric medicine—long an area of interest to her, inspired by her mom’s work in assisted living and her own strong relationship with her grandparents and other older adults. While still a student at LSA, Lerner noticed how siloed different age groups were and founded the organization Perfect Pair, which matches college students with older adults based on mutual backgrounds, interests, and hobbies, and provides programming where they can connect.
She thinks her experience learning Polish as well as other courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences will continue to help her throughout her career. “One big thing I learned in undergrad was how to communicate. And that’s a big part of medicine—communicating with patients, of course, but also communicating to other providers. I’ve always felt very prepared, since the day I started med school.”
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| Release Date: | 05/19/2026 |
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| Tags: | LSA |
