Knowledge in service

For Joe Alsberge ’07, ideas placed in the service of others become ideals. “When I was 18,” he says, “I spent two months at a biological field station near a small village in the western lowlands of Ecuador. A German doctor there was struggling to combat several illnesses including malaria, which thrived only because the villagers could not afford antimalarial drugs. The inequity was startling, given that every European and American visitor— myself included—had easy access to these drugs.” That revelation, his admiration for the doctor’s work, the writings of physician-anthropologist Paul Farmer, and his classroom and community experiences at Lewis & Clark have fueled his passion to become a physician and health care advocate working for underserved populations.

A Phi Beta Kappa sociology/anthropology major with a minor in chemistry, Alsberge directly addresses the impact of poverty on health through rigorous research for his senior thesis, through volunteer work with the homeless who are treated at Portland’s Old Town Clinic, and through cofounding the Health, Culture and Society Club. The club connects students interested in social justice and health care with volunteer opportunities in community health clinics.