Future of health care in good hands with USF grads
USF has a long tradition of graduating highly competent biology majors who are accepted to medical schools across the country. This year, the Natural Sciences Department faculty is especially proud of the four students who have been accepted or wait-listed in very competitive medical programs.
Brian Herbst, Hadyn Hollister, Jillian Schefke and Stephanie Whyte have distinguished themselves academically during the past four years, challenging instructors to give them their best shots and catalyzing the offering of advanced courses in physics and physiology. Their academic abilities are complemented by their Franciscan values to serve the needy - in this case through medical care
Brian Herbst of Plainfield started at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. He has always known, from a very young age, that he wanted to go into medicine and it has been his inspiration throughout his life.
"My goal is to help people, and make a positive impact on those people that I encounter, whether it is patients, colleagues, friends or family," said Herbst, who would eventually like to go into pediatrics and specialize in something like pediatric neurology or cardiology.
"I learned everything that I needed to at USF in order to get to the point that I am at today," he said, adding that faculty influence made the biggest difference in his growth. "Over the years, I have matured and developed into a person, largely as a result of my close contact with the USF faculty," he said, noting that he learned things beyond the classroom that no textbook could teach.
"The faculty were not just teachers, or mentors, but rather friends that went out of their way to help me with things that I needed help in, to challenge me when I needed to be challenged, and always did so without thinking twice," he explained. "This made a big difference in how I conduct myself now with those around me. Many of the things that they did for me, I find that I do for others. It is contagious."
Herbst says that he will take with him the values that the people in the USF community exhibited as he continues his journey to help others. "The Franciscan values were always emphasized, and the faculty lived them. The more I interacted with them, the more I found myself doing the same."
Another medical school-bound student, Hadyn Hollister of Joliet, is on the waiting list at three prestigious medical schools: the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, and Dartmouth Medical College. He intends to wait a year before attending medical school in order to independently study foreign language and linguistics.
"My desire to continue schooling is rooted in my intense curiosity, which could have influenced me to pursue any one of a number of different directions at the graduate level," said Hollister. "Medical school is one of several academic avenues that appeal immensely to me."
Hollister is eager to begin medical school, but patient about it at the same time. "Waiting a year before beginning classes is extremely important to me," he said, explaining that it allows him to first study other academic areas that have always fascinated him, an opportunity which would not be available if he were to begin medical school immediately. Ultimately, he would like to practice in one of the surgical specialties, perhaps neurosurgery or trauma surgery.
Hollister describes his interactions with USF faculty and students as a great benefit. "The faculty from numerous departments have been eager and willing to mentor me, encourage me and challenge me, both academically and with regard to other areas in life," said Hollister. "In other students at USF, I have found individuals who have provided camaraderie, healthy competition and moral support. In both groups, I have found individuals who I truly believe will become lifelong friends."
He credits USF with providing him with a firm academic foundation from which he can build at the graduate level, as well as at whatever other levels he chooses to pursue independently. "USF has provided me with a group of great friends, and a number of unforgettable memories," he said.
Jillian Schefke of Woodstock, Ill. is a first year medical student at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood.
"It is scary because it is new, but it is exciting to think about beginning my career in medicine," she said. "There is so much to learn and I can’t wait to understand a fraction of it." Eventually, Schefke would like to work in a large city as a pediatric specialist.
"USF helped me by providing a great education," she said, crediting the biology faculty with always being willing to try new things, which made her experience enjoyable.
She knows that she will take the information she absorbed during the four years at USF with her, but feels she also takes something of much greater importance: "I learned that if you treat everyone with respect, it will usually make for a great time."
Stephanie Whyte of Wilmington, Ill. has started medical school at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister Sarah Whyte, a 2002 USF biology graduate, who is studying osteopathic medicine at Midwestern University.