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Vijay Yerubandi, Class of 2006.

Medical Doctor and Research fellow, Harvard and Boston Universities

Bio

Vijay graduated in May 2006 with majors in South Asia Studies and Biochemistry. He graduated with an M.S. in Chemistry also from Penn in December 2007. After this he went on to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and obtained his M.D.degree in May 2010. He is now finishing a radiology residency at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina in June 2015, and next year will be doing a fellowship in nuclear medicine at the Harvard Joint Program in Nuclear Medicine in Boston.

"I recall that during my undergraduate days, SAST offered many Indian languages, but was always willing to add another one given enough expressed demand. Some major universities you can get Hindi classes, but tabla and Telugu classes were a unique experience that very few other universities in the US can offer."

On the most enjoyable things about the courses in the Department he writes: “I enjoyed being able to get a formal education about my Indian heritage, but taught at a high level. Classes I took spanned history to art and philosophy to multiple languages to economics and health care to South Asian performance arts. South Asia Studies courses weren't like other university courses which were textbook based, but I was able to get some fun and interactive education in tabla classes and also in Hindi and Telugu languages. These classes all had custom syllabi as there are no definitive textbooks available to teach from. I was able to petition to start the Telugu class for 2 years with some other students and that was great. SAST already offers so many Indian languages, but was willing to add another one given enough expressed demand. Some major universities you can get Hindi classes, but tabla and Telugu classes were a unique experience that very few other universities in the US can offer.

"Biochemistry and chemistry are majors that carried over more directly for my medical career, but South Asia Studies was more informative for my personal and family life."