Alumni Voices

Testimony from Karl Schulz, Class of ’99, attorney:

Study of history at USC “sparked a life-long interest that has been richly rewarding to explore… What I have learned along the way has served me well in business and social situations, including just recently in my law practice.”

Testimony from Ted Sousa, Class of ’03, physician:

“In medical school you must be able to communicate what you read. Most of grading in the advanced years in medical school is subjective. People who speak intelligently about what they read and how they understand its relevance to patient care do better than those who never had the opportunities to take [discussion] classes. There are a lot of medical students, accomplished biology majors, who do extremely well in the first two basic science years of medical school, only to fall flat their final two years because they don't communicate well. A USC History degree helped me learn how to verbally communicate what I read.”

“In medical school, there is not a day that goes by that I do not write a patient's history of their illness. In medicine an organized chronology is important to diagnose and treat a patient's disease. Chronology is also important in history, but more important is how you write. I think USC history helped me to be a good writer. I learned how to be succinct. In medical school, I am often loaded with multiple patients, with different problems, and it’s important to get my thoughts down on paper. What I write becomes a part of the medical record, but from the student standpoint, it is also what is read by your superiors and used in grading. I know that writing essay exams as well as multiple history papers refined my writing skills. I write much better than the biology majors who took the bare minimum writing classes, and I am glad I do.”

“I also had the opportunity at USC to write a history thesis on An Early American Gun Culture. It took a whole year, required a ton of reading, a lot of data gathering of primary sources, data entry, and statistical analysis. Although it was a headache at times it was a lot of fun. Now applying to residency it is something that makes me unique and interesting and helps set me apart from hundreds of applicants applying for a slot.”

“History helps me to connect with my patients and understand a little bit about who they really are and where they came from. They become the guy that fought in the Battle of the Bulge, rather than just the broken hip in Resus 5. If you take the history class on American Wars, you'll understand how cool that is.”

“Medical school is a lot of work, it’s stressful, it’s hard, and you get little time off. Tell those USC undergrads to have fun in college, and major in something they like that's interesting--like history. Take it from a guy who goes to one of the top medical schools in the nation, it helps to major in something other than biology and you will not be behind your classmates. I promise.”