In years past, college students interested in a career in medicine were more often than not given the same advice: take mainly chemistry and biology courses during your undergraduate years, strive for the highest possible grade point average, study hard for the Medical College Admission Test, and do not allow anything to divert you from that tried and true path to success. Even today, many academic advisors across the country persist in the notion that a narrow, rigidly adhered to course of undergraduate study is the best form of medical school preparation.
Nearly 30 years ago, Nick Maravolo began challenging the conventional wisdom, advising Lawrence students interested in health careers to consider a different path. Maravolo, professor of biology and pre-med advisor at Lawrence, encouraged students to get a broad liberal arts education and, through exposure to the real world of medicine, find out for themselves whether they had the drive, commitment, and passion necessary to succeed in the profession. The scientific preparation required for medical school admission would provide the foundation for further study, but the important thing was the development of the individual and the refinement of his or her life interests and values.
This approach, once well ahead of its time, is now largely accepted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which urges prospective medical school applicants to research the wide variety of jobs available in the health professions, to discover the nature and demands of medicine, and to ask a lot of questions before embarking on the career path. Moreover, AAMC advises prospective candidates to not only complete the required course work in biology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and English but also to "keep your undergraduate experience well-rounded by studying humanities and the social sciences," echoing what Lawrence advisors have been saying for several decades.
Today, Maravolo and his colleagues on the Health Careers Advisory Committee remain true to that original philosophy--that a traditional liberal education, complemented by hands-on involvement to familiarize students with the nature of medical education and practice, is the best way to prepare Lawrence undergraduates for health careers. The Health Careers Advisory Committee, formed over 25 years ago, sponsors a number of activities to help students discover whether they truly have the interest, motivation, and aptitude for medical school.
Health career seminars, targeted at juniors and seniors, bring alumni from a variety of class years and health-care specialties to campus for discussions with interested students. Representatives of medical schools and local physicians regularly participate in these workshops. At one workshop, Dr. Robert Brucker, '75, an Appleton radiologist, may be called upon to explain how x-ray interpretations provide the basis for difficult medical diagnoses; at another, Dr. Timothy Rasor, a New London emergency-services physician, describes what it is like to practice emergency medicine in a small community where your patients are often friends, neighbors, or even family members. A Björklunden seminar is planned for next winter, at which a half-dozen medical practitioners will spend the weekend with Lawrence pre-med students discussing a broad spectrum of issues and ideas, from career demands to ethics in medicine.
The Health Careers Preceptor program is an important part of the effort to acquaint Lawrence students with the medical profession and its realities before they commit themselves to medical school. Preceptorships, as they are called, match students with local physicians, who have students accompany them on hospital rounds, observe surgeries, and generally gain familiarity with all aspects of a doctor's routine, from office practice to working with technical support facilities to doing a shift in the emergency room. As Maravolo says, "Medical schools now want some type of documentation that you have been exposed to the profession and know what you are getting into."
Preceptorships create a mentoring environment, where students can discuss with practitioners such things as doctor-patient relationships, the life of a medical student, and even the pros and cons of various medical specializations. Maravolo credits Dr. Richard Haight, '71, with helping set up the broad network of cooperating physicians that makes the program possible, a task that Dr. David Brooks, '84, of United Health Group, Appleton, carries on.
The Health Careers Advisory Committee also administers the Kasel Summer Internship Grants. Established in 1976 through the Florence Kasel Trust, the Kasel grants, along with the Mielke Internships in Biomedical Ethics, Health Economics, and Medical Humanities, provide ten-week stipends for Lawrence students to conduct medically oriented projects in the Fox Valley during the summer months.
This past summer, a Kasel grant allowed Benjamin Duffy, '99, Appleton, to investigate the results and ramifications of the treatment of bacterial infections by Doctors of Chiropractic who use manipulation and immune system boosters in place of antibiotics. Susan Thao, '99, Appleton, worked on an educational video to familiarize the Fox Valley Hmong community with the many services a pharmacist provides and the importance of following instructions for prescription drugs and asking questions regarding treatments. Patrick McDonough, '00, Green Bay, conducted interviews to identify and address communication problems between the elderly and their physicians. Michael Damrow, '99, West Bend, the fourth Kasel participant, examined how differences from one dentist to another in method or manner influence childrenıs perception of dental visits.
The Lawrence approach to preparing students for medical school has been a resounding success. Acceptance of Lawrence applicants to medical school far exceeds the national average, with approximately half of each yearıs applicants receiving placements (compared to a national average of less than 1 in 3). Maravolo notes with pride that all ten of the prospective applicants he advised in 1997 were admitted to schools of their choice. Seven of the ten, or 70 percent, were women, compared with a national admittance rate for women that year of 43 percent.
Since 1950, at least 345 Lawrentians have graduated from medical school and gone on to health careers, with degrees from such prestigious institutions as the University of Minnesota, Georgetown University, Northwestern University, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Harvard University, the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Indiana University, and the University of Wisconsin. An additional 42 Lawrentians, including seven from the Class of 1998, have been accepted to medical school since 1991, most of whom enrolled and are currently in training.
For Maravolo, getting into a prestigious medical school is only one of the goals--and, in some respects, of lesser importance. What he and his colleagues seek to do is help students develop a value system for life or, as he puts it, to provide an education that will "teach you how to live." Success in this context is what the college aspires to for every graduate.
Maravolo knows he has succeeded when alumni carry forward the broader meaning of their Lawrence educations into their careers and personal life. To the make the point, he is fond of recalling one of his former advisees, Stuart Winter, '83. Winter, as Maravolo tells the story, is a pediatric oncologist at the University of New Mexico hospital who practices medicine but stays active in research, obtaining federal grants for his studies. He paints in watercolors, is an avid hiker, plays classical music to relax, and reads Herman Hesse for enjoyment. As a young man, Winter deferred medical school for one year to travel to India as a volunteer, where part of the time he worked in a clinic. For Maravolo, that story pretty well sums up what pre-med education at Lawrence is about.
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