Ethan Bott

Academic Interests: Psychology major, Chemistry minor, and Italian minor

My interest in the medical field was spurred, in part, by a radiologist that I had met when I was fourteen. He told me about his motivations for pursuing a career in medicine, and many of the things that he had said resonated deeply with me. The ability that those in the medical domain have to help others is something that has helped to cement my career goals, and this was only bolstered by my experiences since coming to Duke, namely my time volunteering in the Duke Cancer Center Patient Support Program and working as a research assistant in a speech pathology lab. Through each of these things, I have been able to spend a great deal of time interacting with patients. During my orientation at the Duke Cancer Center, I was fortunate enough to be able to hear someone ring the bell that served as a proclamation of them being cancer-free – something that hadn’t happened in months. As it chimed throughout the corridor and I saw the patient with their loved ones, I immediately knew that, for me, nothing could possibly be more fulfilling than a career as an oncologist. Moreover, the intersection between this newly engendered passion and my desire to support the youth in our communities rendered pediatric oncology my dream occupation. Though I was admittedly uncommitted to a career in healthcare prior to this experience, I have garnered a good understanding of what it is like to work in a hospital setting, and I am entirely determined to attend medical school. Outside of the medical field, I am exceedingly interested in education reform, and I currently serve as the Vice President of Outreach for the Students for Education Reform chapter at Duke. Through this, I was tasked with the development of a college preparatory program for low-income students in Durham-area high schools. With the emergence of COVID-19 and mandatory quarantining, I founded a substance use and addiction 501(c)(3) non-profit called The June Group. As of now, we have developed a substance use curriculum for high schools, an annual scholarship, and various community advocacy and outreach programs.