Meet the Recipients

December 30, 2008
The Lucidicus Project awarded its thirty-third MISDK today to Andrea S., a post-baccalaureate pre-medical student studying physiology and biological anthropology who will be applying to medical school shortly. At Georgetown University, Andrea studied international politics and became acutely aware of the important role that politics plays in the day-to-day workings of the world. She has since become a staunch supporter of free-trade, as a result of studying the issues and traveling throughout the post-soviet world. Andrea is interested in learning more about how free-market economic ideas apply to healthcare and medicine, and is eager to be introduced to the ideas of Ayn Rand.

November 16, 2008
The Lucidicus Project awarded its thirty-second MISDK today to Dennis, a student with a background in cellular biology who has recently been accepted to medical school and will be matriculating at an allopathic school in the fall of 2009. Dennis's interest in economics began in high school when he made his first trade in the stock market, leading him to read such works as Milton Friedman's Free to Choose and Ayn Rand's Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. This passion for free markets and capitalism continued to grow while in college, where he also developed a new passion for the sciences and medicine. Dennis says that reading about economics contributed to his ideals of individualism and self-reliance, while his study of science and medicine helped to affirm his belief in human ingenuity and progress. As an individual concerned for the future of the field, Dennis plans to use the materials in the kit to strengthen his voice as a proponent of laissez-faire medicine.

November 11, 2008
The Lucidicus Project awarded its thirty-first MISDK today to Teresa L., a student on the east coast who is studying biology in hopes of becoming a doctor. Teresa read Atlas Shrugged as a freshman in high school, and found that it affirmed many of her existing personal beliefs—for instance, that people should earn what they get, that they must work to fulfill themselves, and that a free market will all balance out in the end. It also introduced her to new ideas such as the necessity of egoism and the true effects of altruism. Now that she is wondering about the medical world, she is looking for additional clarity on what policies are moral and fair to doctors. She hopes that the materials in the kit will supply her with some additional information about the career path she has chosen.

October 10, 2008
The Lucidicus Project has awarded its thirtieth MISDK to Nick G., a first-year student at the Medical University of South Carolina. Nick has been on the medical track for several years now, but has concerns about the future of the field—particularly over how doctors would fare if the United States were to fully socialize medicine. Nick is familiar with the philosophy of Objectivism, and has found it to be an enormously helpful guide in clarifying the important issues in life. He hopes to get some additional guidance on philosophy and economics from the materials in the MISDK, which will in turn help him with some of the career choices that he currently faces.

July 31, 2008
The Lucidicus Project awarded its twenty-ninth MISDK today to a fourth-year allopathic medical student who wishes to remain anonymous. Entering medical school after working briefly in the engineering industry, this student quickly became appalled at the economic waste he saw in American medicine. He believes medicine could be made substantially more efficient by following the business models used in the commercial sector. He is also very concerned over the fact that the field's strongest voice, the American Medical Association, has done little to promote the rational interests of physicians. By learning more about the moral and economic case for capitalism, he hopes to bring about this change. This recipient also currently authors a weblog online under the nom de plume Half M.D.