English & Bio Alum Jenn Lewis Writes with News of Med School Success

Jenn Lewis (BA, Biology & English, 2011) writes with news of her experiences as a medical student at Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia where, among other things, she bridged her natural science and humanities backgrounds by taking responsibility for editing the college’s literary magazine. In her own, friendly as ever, words, she tells us,

“You knew I ended up at Jeff, and I was active in the lit mag, Inside Out, for three years before handing the reins to another English alum, Andi Frankenburger. Andi and I both chose Family Medicine for residency: she’s currently an intern in the combined Family Medicine/Psychiatry program at UPMC in Pittsburgh, and I’m a second year in the Family Med program at Georgetown University in DC.

“I miss English class so much some days, particularly when I catch up on prior auth paperwork, or on 28-hour call days, and especially on the occasional snooze month (I’m at the VA for derm right now: dermatology is to medicine what Tristram Shandy is to the literary canon), but I love what I do and where I’m training! We learn a little bit about everything in Fam Med: I’m in the hospital treating inpatients one day, managing acute illness in urgent clinic or doing well child visits the next, and at any time I might have to drop everything and rush to the hospital to deliver a baby from a mom I’ve managed from the confirmation of pregnancy appointment. It’s exhausting, and humbling, and gratifying, all at once. I’ll graduate next June and I hope to be accepted into a Geriatrics fellowship, probably back in the Philly area, but I won’t know where until next Feb. Please let Professor Hill know I haven’t abandoned my goal of returning to practice geri in NEPA!”

It’s easy to see why we’re proud of Jenn. Congrats and continued success to her.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *