In addition to giving students the best possible science education in preparation for medicine, Holy Cross strongly emphasizes the ethical and humanistic side of medical education. This focus on the humanistic side of medicine is not confined to the many classes in literature, philosophy, ethics, etc., that we offer our students or even the many service activities to which most of our program participants contribute; it also is present in the atmosphere that we attempt to create within the Premedical Program itself.

Too many people believe that 'survival of the fittest' must be the operative strategy for a premedical student, and they advise students that they must work frantically to beat their competition. Holy Cross is unalterably opposed to this sort of approach, and we have worked hard to try and eliminate the Darwinian selection process that is all too common in premedical education. Instead, we have endeavored to create an atmosphere of academic excellence in which any competition is directed toward the material being studied rather than toward one's classmates. Indeed, we hope to promote an atmosphere of cooperation among students rather than competition. Many of our laboratories, in fact are purposely set up in a way that makes student collaboration necessary. We believe that this is the best possible preparation for a future in which health professionals will be increasingly dependent on continuous cooperation and communication rather than on competition between individuals.

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