Since I have joined the Environment and Natural Resource scholars, my appreciation for sustainability has heightened. I now know that sustainability doesn’t just mean “being green” but it means to have an endurance of certain systems. Balanced sustainability includes people, profit and planet. People with career aspirations in the environmental field are not the only ones who can think with a sustainable mindset. The two TED talks I viewed (“Your health depends on where you live” and “A needle free vaccine patch that’s safer and way cheaper”) talked about being sustainable in the three different aspects of the meaning while relating it to the medical field which is my field of interest.

“Your health depends on where you live” focused on the planet and people portion of sustainability. Bill Davenhall believes his heart attack that was once unable to be explained can be explained by the poor air conditions in the places he has lived. Physicians asked him about his lifestyle and his family’s medical history, but never asked about his environmental conditions. As an aspiring future physician, this is very important to me. The planet we live in affects the people I will see and treat. Davenhall introduced to me the idea of “geo-medicine” and how this can have lasting effects on people’s health.

Mark Kendall’s “A needle free vaccine patch that’s safer and way cheaper” introduced to me a breakthrough in the profit and betterment of a new vaccine. A needle and syringe has been used to inject vaccines for over 150 years, and now a more efficient way to give vaccines is on the horizon. This new patch is more beneficial to the patient, more cost efficient, and does not require refrigeration which conserves energy. It’s important as a future physician to think about cutting costs and increasing patients health. This vaccine is statistically proven to be more effective than a syringe, and it’s cheaper.

These TED talks further proved to me that sustainability can be applied in every career field. It is important as I approach my future to think about profit, people and the planet. People have always been my passion. Kendall and Davenhall both researched how to improve peoples lives medically. They also took into account the planet and profit of the situation. I need to learn from them and begin thinking of the environment and costs as I prepare to enter the medical field.