Angel Parham is a junior from Cocoa, Florida, majoring in psychology and Arts & Letters pre-health. Her choice to study psychology was heavily influenced by her older brother’s diagnosis with a chronic mental illness, which activated her interest in the genetic, biological, and environmental factors that contribute to all mental illnesses. She wants to use her education to develop a deeper understanding of her brother’s experience and, in turn, understand and connect with him better.
Therese Kim is a junior from West Friendship, Maryland, majoring in sociology and A&L pre-health. She is interested in how socioeconomic and cultural factors influence certain communities, especially in relation to health. She has studied Spanish since elementary school, learning about different Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. and abroad.
The two students completed Notre Dame Global's Puebla study abroad program in the fall 2025 semester. Below, they share how the experience impacted their development as future health care professionals.
What is the Puebla study abroad program?
The Puebla study abroad program is an enriching experience designed for students to develop their Spanish skills and immerse themselves in the culture of Mexico.
The fall semester, in particular, is geared toward pre-health students, offering them the opportunity to participate in clinical rotations. We had the chance to shadow health professionals in local private hospitals as well as in the clinics on the campus of La Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP). We were exposed to numerous medical specialties, further guiding us in discerning our career plans and deepening our interest in health.
Why did you choose this program?
We decided to participate in this program because it was a perfect opportunity to get out of our comfort zones, strengthen our Spanish skills, and still stay on track to graduate.
We want to work as health care professionals, and in addition to the medical rotations, this program provided classes every Monday and Wednesday in which we learned about the Mexican health care system and health topics that medical students study, such as how to take note of a patient’s clinical history and how to properly bandage different wounds on the body.
We also practiced skills in laboratories, including suturing, newborn medical care, nasogastric tube placement, CPR, and medication administration.
How did you engage in research?
In one laboratory, we researched the gut microbiota communities in spider monkeys, examining the potential relationships between diet type, housing conditions (semi-free or captive), and the intestinal health of these endangered primates to determine if the bacteria and parasites found are zoonotic or if they can be transferred from the monkeys to humans.
We dare say that our lab is the best in the program — we actually got to visit a protected area containing a community of spider monkeys under advice of our research professor Fabiola Espinosa-Gómez. We traveled with veterinarians, researchers, and other students, collecting fecal samples to bring back to UPAEP. We analyzed parasites from the samples, discovering that many of them are potentially zoonotic.
What did you gain from your research?
As psychology and sociology students, our research has allowed us to learn about the socialization of primates, which is something we’ve both never considered, but it is important to understand how animals hunt, eat, play, sleep, and socialize in groups.
Some examples of social group compositions include solitary living, pair bonds, and fission-fusion. Orangutans live in solidarity except when they need to reproduce, while a female and a male tamarin monkey will always stick together during their lives. The fission-fusion composition is relevant to chimpanzees, humans, and the spider monkeys we studied. Within groups exemplifying fission-fusion, leadership is distributed among the group, and smaller groups are formed when food is scarce.
Our research has shown us firsthand the interactions between health and biological, environmental, and social factors. Health is not just about one individual or a family; it is shaped by communities, ecosystems, and human-animal interactions.
We have also learned practical skills such as field work, data collection, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Our lab confirmed that we want to continue integrating a holistic approach with clinical practice — in the contexts of global health and community-centered medical care.
Arts & Letters prepared us for our research and study abroad experiences in Puebla by encouraging interdisciplinary learning and providing overwhelming support for us to go abroad. Our courses not only prepared us academically, but also taught us to engage thoughtfully with different communities in Mexico.
Originally published by at prehealth.nd.edu on January 29, 2026.
