Ariel Dempsey, a young physician from Grand Rapids, is pursuing a PhD in Science and Religion at the University of Oxford as a Rotary Global Scholar. She addressed us from England with a PowerPoint program via Zoom.
Ariel is a graduate of University of Michigan where she studied pre-medicine and ran track and cross-country. She earned her MD at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. With the support of the Rotary Global Grant Scholars Program, she is at the University of Oxford working on a PhD in Science and Religion.
Ariel has had opportunities to serve her community in England through the local Rotary club. Her career goal is to become a palliative care physician walking alongside those at the end of life and an academic theologian, drawing on the resources in religious traditions to reflect on healthcare.
When asked if science and religion conflict she says, “Science and Religion don’t conflict. People conflict and people can make conflict out of anything if they want to. But the last thing our world needs is more conflict. Let’s find ways to bring science and religion together to do good.”
Ariel is in her second year at Oxford. Following the completion of her studies, Ariel wants to come back to Michigan to practice medicine.