Research Interests: Crime, incarceration, carceral logic, racial inequity, health and society, medicine, mixed-methods

GeorgePatrick (George) Hutchins (he/him) is a Doctoral Student in Sociology and MD Candidate at Harvard Medical School. He graduated from Indiana University in 2019 with a BA in Biochemistry and Sociology, with honors.

He completed a senior thesis that explored the relationship between race, stress, and mental health among pre-health students, deriving theoretical strength from Leonard Pearlin’s Stress Process Model. This study interrogated whether racialized stressors exacerbated the mental health outcomes of Black students as an alternative hypothesis, addressing the “leaky pipeline” of minority students in health professions training.

His current research interests exist at the intersection of race, crime, and health inequity, which he plans to address using mixed-methods investigation. George is interested in elucidating the medical consequences of incarceration by questioning the role physicians have played and continue to play in legitimizing carceral systems. This includes commenting on the deleterious effects of jails, prisons, and policing on health outcomes. As a physician-scientist, he intends for this work to directly inform clinical practice.

George has spent time as a research assistant in several contexts, most recently examining the experiences of those with criminal histories as they seek healthcare and testing the impact of accreditation processes on carceral health outcomes.

Previous Degrees:
BA, Biochemistry and Sociology, with honors, Indiana University (2019)
MD Harvard Medical School (expected 2028)