By Gretchen Carpenter, Dartmouth Class of 2023 and Eichler Fellow 22-23
Throughout the year, the Eichler Fellows learned to write poetry. For their capstone project, the fellows wrote a poem that encapsulated their fellowship experience, a moment that has special meaning, or a concept that was learned.
Hello! My name is Gretchen and I am a ’23 from Denver, CO. At Dartmouth I study biomedical engineering and global health. I am interested in how we as a society frame good health as the absence of abnormalities instead of the presence of wellbeing, and how that mindset can perpetuate a culture where more care is always better. As an engineering student, I am conscious of how
I can best implement innovation in a way that intentionally meets the needs of the community and simultaneously emphasizes holistic wellbeing. A true holistic approach to patient care is not just about physiological symptoms or biomedical models, but also examines the societal, spatial, cultural, and emotional responses to the various types of illness and susceptibilities. After finishing my BE at Dartmouth, I plan to study public health and then attend medical school.
Outside of academics, I spend a lot of my time outdoors. I love to backcountry ski and have been spending a lot of time touring around the local areas like Brandon’s gap,
Braintree, and Mount Washington. I also love to paddleboard on the Connecticut River, read in my hammock, and climb!