G

etting into medical school isn’t easy. But at Texas Lutheran, engaged professors know what it takes and provide the support and challenge needed by TLU’s pre-med students to guide them toward a fulfilling vocation.

Introductory science classes are taught by professors who take the time to get to know their students, then raise the bar to a level most students have never faced before.

“The faculty spends significant time with our students – in labs, advising, doing research, publishing with them, helping find internships, and just talking to them,” said Dr. Bill Squires, professor of biology and kinesiology and the Dr. Frederick C. Elliott Chair in Health, Fitness, and Nutrition.

Jason Thonhoff ’03 is now in his sixth year of an eight-year M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB).

“It’s really true that TLU’s small size helps to foster relationships,” he said. “The entire science faculty is so passionate about teaching and mentoring, and they want to help everyone succeed. Professors gave us their home numbers to call them whenever we needed help or had questions.”

TLU professors know the medical field. For example, Squires holds adjunct positions with the Baylor College of Medicine and the University of North Texas Health Care Center, Dr. Alan Lievens earned an M.D. from UTMB and was a physician before earning his Ph.D., and Dr. Bob Jonas did his post-doctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and does research in microbial genetics at TLU.

Today’s professors follow a tradition of dedicated teaching. Dr. Arthur Gustafson, Dr. Evelyn Fiedler Streng, Dr. Harry Bischoff, Prof. Irvin Patterson, Dr. Preston Reeves, and Dr. Harold Bier were among those early pre-med mentors.

Dr. Ron Balderach ’67, a surgeon in Pennsylvania, credited Dr. Bischoff and his other TLU professors for his strong background going into medical school.

“I always knew I wanted to be a surgeon, I went to Texas Lutheran because of its reputation that students who could successfully finish their pre-med program had a good shot at getting into medical school. I took all the science courses I could, and when I had questions I got the personal attention of my professors.”


Advising pre-meds

Each year many first-year students say they want to go to med school, but Dr. David Wasmund, professor of chemistry and holder of the Adolph Krause professorship in Natural Science, explained some students lack a realistic view of what it takes to get there, so TLU professors help them understand.

“I tell pre-med students you have to do three things to get into medical school – have a high GPA and MCAT score, be disciplined, and demonstrate commitment to your field,” said Wasmund.

Medical schools get more applicants with high scores than they can take, so that is an absolute. But after that, he explained, they look at other things.

“At a small, good school like ours, you can do more than one thing,” Wasmund said. “You can be a science major and be in choir or intercollegiate athletics – and that shows discipline. At a much bigger school, that would be impossible–you couldn’t practice and take all of your labs at the same time, but here we work together to put the student first.”


Internships

AT&T Science Facility At one of the workstations in the new Lee Mueller Organic Chemistry Lab on the top floor of the AT&T Science Facility, senior microbiology major Chris Deuel is pleased he is able to spend his last semester in the new facility, working with Dr. John McClusky and his other professors before graduating in May and heading to medical school. During his four years at TLU, Deuel has been supported, challenged and guided by TLU professors – as have others for over a century at Texas Lutheran. In Seguin early labs were in Old Main, then Weeber Hall, and, for the past 40 years, Moody Science Hall. In January, the AT&T Science Facility opened as the east wing of Moody, providing students with an additional 10,000 square feet of state-of-the-art chemistry, biology and physics laboratories, preparation rooms, faculty offices and research areas. The new wing provides a flexible and efficient environment for cooperative group learning and individual hands-on research for the growing science department. The dedication of the new AT&T Science Facility will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27. Everyone is invited to attend the short ceremony and tour the new building. ♦

Internships and work experience in the students’ chosen field often help them decide if a specific career is right for them, and TLU professors help students get accepted into internships that strengthen their medical school applications.

“Since we have a smaller number of students, we deal with them as individuals,” Wasmund said. “A large school with 200 pre-meds cannot give each person the same attention that we can. We look at our students – we know their strengths and weaknesses and try to get them in a program that will help them.”

A good example is the connection between Squires and the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. Squires has worked with the clinic for nearly 30 years and has established an excellent track record of recommending outstanding students for internships.

Dr. Rachel Schoss Eidelman ’92, a cardiologist in Florida, knew she wanted to be a physician, but it wasn’t until her internship at Kelsey-Seybold, that she decided on cardiology.

“Dr. Squires was most instrumental in supporting my decision to be a physician, enabling me to do the internship at Kelsey-Seybold and allowing me to present research at the Frontiers in Cardiology symposium where I could network with physicians when I was just an undergraduate,” she said.

Dr. Jeff Glover ’86 said he wanted to be a veterinarian even before he entered high school. As a student at Texas Lutheran, he shared his dream with Squires.

“I remember he told me ‘that’s a tough nut to crack,’” Glover said.

Just as he advised those going to medical school, Squires told Glover he must get good grades and show his commitment to the field to be accepted to veterinary school. Glover worked with TLU adjunct professor Dr. Bill Campaigne in his animal clinic, kept a high grade point average, and was accepted to Texas A&M where he earned his DVM. Glover now owns an animal hospital in Floresville.

Kassie Hunt ’06, who is in nursing school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said she came to TLU because of its reputation and high percentage of students accepted into nursing school.

“I knew TLU would really prepare me, and I have been absolutely prepared because the courses at TLU were in-depth and well taught.”

Along with the sciences, the two-year pre-nursing program at TLU includes liberal arts courses, courses that Hunt said she enjoyed. “The fact you get to take theology and philosophy makes you more well-rounded – it gives you a breadth of knowledge.”


Research programs

Thonhoff credits the independent research program he completed at TLU as the single most important factor in his acceptance to the intensive M.D.- Ph.D. program in neuroscience.

“Dr. Wasmund took time to mentor me,” he said. “I really learned what scientific research entailed, and it allowed me to decide with certainty that I wanted a career in research. I was also able to present my research at local and national chemistry meetings, and it really enhanced the strength of my resume for medical schools.”

Thonhoff plans to dedicate his future career to the development of stem cellbased therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic neurological injuries and, ultimately, the translation of these therapies from animal models to human clinical trials.

Dr. Kevin Gallagher ’93, cardiologist with the Austin Heart Hospital in Fredericksburg, earned Ph.D. and doctor of osteopathic medicine degrees. He said he was headed toward medicine even when he was young, but Squires’ physiology course and research work in the lab “sealed the deal.”

“Dr. Squires introduced me to what became my passion – physiology, especially dealing with the heart. Texas Lutheran had a great reputation, thus coming out of TLU I had an excellent, respected scientific background that led to my acceptance to a Ph.D. program.”

When Dr. David Wenzel ’85 came to TLU, he wanted to be a research scientist in biology. He received a Welch Foundation grant and worked with Wasmund doing research. And then he changed his mind.

“Without having to go to graduate school, I learned that I did not have the temperament to be a research scientist.” At that point, he decided to attend medical school, and now he is a neurologist in San Antonio.

“TLU was crucial to my success because I lacked the maturity at 17 to succeed in a larger, more impersonal, less nurturing environment. Without the encouragement and friendship of my professors, I don’t know what would have happened to me – in particular Dr. Reeves, Dr. Squires, Dr. Gilbertson, and especially Dr. Bier and Dr. Wasmund were important influences to whom I owe a great deal,” Wenzel said.

"Texas Lutheran had a great reputation, thus coming out of TLU I had an excellent, respected scientific background that led to my acceptance to a Ph.D. program.” – Dr. Kevin Gallagher ’93

Tough love

Dr. Kelly Kensing ’81, a gastroenterologist in Lubbock, said that when he came to TLU he got by for a while without studying too hard. “Then Dr. Bier had a ‘come to Jesus meeting’ with me and let me know I was going to have to work harder if I was going to get into medical school.”

Kensing said he and his roommate, Danny Salinas, both hoped to become doctors, so they pushed each other to get there – “lots of late nights and early mornings at the Kettle, drinking coffee and doing lots of physics and organic chemistry,” Kensing said.

Salinas, now Dr. Dan Salinas ’81, recalls a similar meeting with Dr. Bier during his freshman year when Bier explained the correlation between medical school and a high GPA.

“He basically gave me a very appropriate tough love discussion, and from that moment on, my life turned around.”

Salinas said the reason he came to TLU was the college’s acceptance rate into medical school. “It was about 100 percent, but what I didn’t know at the time was that they were very careful about who applied. TLU had a good track record with all the medical schools in Texas because all the Texas Lutheran students who went to medical school did well. So if you got to apply, you were almost guaranteed a slot. However, you had to work to get to that point.”

Not only was Salinas accepted into medical school, he became a successful pediatrician, was chief medical officer for Kaiser and Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Georgia, and is now the senior vice president and chief medical officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

“I really mourned leaving medical practice, but I felt one of the reasons that I should do it was because I could impact the care of 2-3 million Georgians at Blue Cross. And the ultimate for me was to come back to pure pediatrics as chief medical officer at Children’s where I oversee the clinical care delivery system for children throughout Georgia.

As they progress as pre-meds, many students decide on a different career path. LeeAnn Still Osborne ’04 knew she wanted to do something in the medical field, and she thought about medical school, but during her sophomore year decided to go a different direction.

“I thought about the time it would take, and I wanted to have time and energy for a family, so I looked at other options.”

The physician’s assistant (P.A.) has been around for several years and is becoming more common as a medical provider. Osborne completed a summer P.A. internship and decided to earn her master’s degree in physician assistant studies, an intense 27-month program, including 15 months of rotations.

Osborne credited TLU for preparing her for her P.A. studies. “I had small and intimate classes where I was pushed to learn as much as I could.” She credits Dr. Deb Hettinger, professor of biology, for challenging her. “Her neuroanatomy class was hard, but because of it, I was able to sail though neurology in P.A. school getting 100 percents on my exams!” Osborne said.

After completing her P.A., Osborne said she wanted to make a difference in a rural area, and so she and her husband relocated to central Oregon where she works in a small family practice office.

“I thrive on helping others, caring for them when they are ill, and seeing their health improve. I am so grateful that I chose to be a P.A. and continue to help make a difference.”

Dr. Kevin Keller ’81, who specializes in immunology and works in a large multi-specialty group in Arkansas, said that physicians are often viewed as role models and they must be aware of that responsibility.

“Being a practicing physician, patients trust you with their lives. There is a tremendous responsibility we owe our patients to provide for their care,” to be there when they need us – whether it’s during clinic hours, at 2 a.m. or on a Friday night when you are at your kid’s high school football game – to be compassionate, and to care.”

Kensing agrees. “The benefits of being able to practice medicine greatly outweigh the calls, long hours, and weekends,” he said. “It continues to be an honor to care for patients – an honor that not too many people get the opportunity to experience.” ♦