Harvard pre-med student uses visual arts to demystify medicine

Friday, April 28, 2017 - 13:21 in Psychology & Sociology

This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates. It’s an undergraduate prerogative to sample various fields and disciplines hoping to find a life purpose. Elaine Dong was resolute about hers when she got to Harvard, and she had learned her resolve through many trials that shaped her, physically and emotionally. Dong was born with a severe cleft lip and palate, in her case so extreme that she was not expected to live, let alone eat, drink, speak, or even breathe normally. But she did all of that, though with deformities to her face and teeth that provoked some terrible taunts. After nine grueling surgeries, her face was repaired and changed—along with her outlook on life, and her ambitions. “I wanted so desperately to be normal,” Dong said of her childhood. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I was dealt one of life’s greatest hands.” Today, at...

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