Graduate-to-be pursues holistic and humanistic medicine
Mohamed El-Farra places marginalized populations at the center of his work in regenerative medicine
For Mohamed El-Farra, medicine does not stop at the disease or the injury.
I want to create a holistic type of medicine. I want to bring in peoples backgrounds and see the people within it, rather than keeping the science separate, said El-Farra, who is graduating with a progressive degree in the masters program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at USC.
El-Farra wants to understand patients in more than just the context of a diagnosis or a medical chart. His approach to medicine does not turn a blind eye to marginalized populations; instead, he places them at the center of his work.
After leaving two years early from Saint Francis High School in La Cañada, El-Farra pursued a bachelors degree in health promotion and disease prevention at USC, explaining, I didnt want to be a standard biology major. I wanted to experience science where it wasnt just about cells, and more about interacting with people.
He and his sister established SALMA<3 (Save a Life, Move a Heart), a student-initiated humanitarian organization that works to spread awareness of homelessness while attempting to break the cycle through various charity events. The branch of SALMA<3 that he started at USC focuses on opening dialogues about the health and safety of vulnerable individuals.
Focusing on preventative medicine
But his work has not stopped there: His current research focuses on preventative medicine as it relates to drug users on Skid Row, and he is conducting a series of interviews and interventions to make a personal difference in their lives. When talking about his work, El-Farra brings up a multitude of questions: Can counseling one on one change drug use? Can we get them to stop? Can we talk to vulnerable populations before drug use?
El-Farra plans to forge ahead with new projects aimed at assisting marginalized individuals. He is already looking toward medical school with his sights set on becoming a surgeon.
Embodying the Hippocratic oath that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeons knife or the chemists drug, he will continue working with disadvantaged populations, trying to make a direct and personal difference through progressive dialogue and science.