A personal, after-class interview with your favorite professors
Dr. Aneesh Khushman began teaching at Cairn in 2019. He holds an MD from Xavier University and has worked in health care in rural central India, not far from where his parents emigrated to the US. With these experiences and a passion for discussing science and faith, Dr. Khushman teaches science courses. He is dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
How does your experience working in India inform your approach to life and education?
I use my experiences in India to teach and motivate students. I hope health science students see what it means to be a Christian who is a health care provider. You don’t have to be a missionary who flies the globe to present the gospel. You can work in a clinic in North Philadelphia or a hospital on a Native American reservation. You can reach people where you are using the gifts that you’ve been given and the education you’ve received.
Can you tell me about your family farm in India?
It’s a farm that’s been in our family for several generations. We have a deal with local folks where they farm the land and then we split the proceeds. We mostly farm rice because it grows well. We use very few pesticides and as much manual labor as possible so we can hire the local population. It’s really more a labor of love than anything else: to give employment to people in the area and keep that property within our family. I’ve been part of the harvesting process, the selling process, the curing of seeds, and all that kind of stuff. So I got my hands dirty with it when I was there.
Do you have any classes you hope to keep teaching as dean?
Anatomy and Physiology has been like breathing in and out for me. I intend to continue teaching that. Also, a new joy that I found is teaching genetics to upper-level biology students.