Naveen Gupta from Arts and Medicine

The next spotlight in the #HumansofGUSOM series is on the co-president of Arts and Medicine, Naveen Gupta. 

Although Naveen is now a current sophomore at GUSOM, he did not always envision himself going to medical school. When he was younger, while he did have an interest in medicine, Naveen wanted to pursue a career in acting. While some may consider these two career choices to be stark contrasts from each other, Naveen saw many similarities. “I always had this division of medicine or acting and they’re both kind of rooted in empathy and discovering yourself and knowing other people. As I was developing this liking towards medicine alongside acting, there was a lot of humanity that I saw within both.” Naveen was also playing hockey throughout high school at a very competitive level. A big part of his journey was finding a balance between these activities and figuring out how they would fit into his future. “Along my way in high school, I think I had a growth of being able to incorporate different aspects of my life and maintain my identity. I started realizing that life is almost what you limit it to be and if you don’t have a limit it’s endless. So I just kept adding on to the things I’m passionate about, and I think that’s what started me towards my journey in medicine.” 

When he came to GUSOM, Naveen was instantly drawn towards Arts and Medicine. Along with acting, Naveen also plays multiple instruments and sings, so it was no surprise that Naveen is a big believer that the arts should play a role in medicine. “I think medicine at times gets bogged down in the science and the physical healing aspect, and the arts can bring a level of humanity to medicine.” In the future, Naveen hopes to incorporate more diverse forms of art into their programming. One way they have begun to do this is by starting a writer’s guild where students can share and receive feedback on their work. Although it can seem like someone needs to have artistic ability to join Arts and Medicine, Naveen stressed how big of a misconception this is. “While it may seem intimidating to join a club like arts and meds because of the talent that some of the peers have, I would say come to learn and come to express. The arts are very subjective, so it’s not about who’s better but more about just releasing. To anyone interested in joining, just do it..don’t even ask yourself if you have this artistic ability or this one, just do it.” In the end, Arts and Medicine does a great job of bringing out the best in everyone. “It’s a club that takes those aspects of what makes us unique and puts it on a pedestal.”

Naveen does not shy away from breaking out of the mold and trying new things, and he encourages all prospective medical students to do the same. “I think just discovering yourself is the best thing you can do. And If you discover yourself and become more attracted to medicine, then it’s ultimately for you.”