Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62106
L "It's a IKE HIS FELLOW DEAN'S SCHOLARS, Garth Walker envisions a strong focus on community service being part of his medical career. "I always felt I was one of the luckiest persons alive, so I always try to find ways to give back whenever I can," says Walker, a second- year medical student. "Medicine is the ultimate way of giving back." Walker grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, the son of a dentist and a real-estate agent. He spent seventh and eighth grade at a private boarding school in Jamaica, his parents' native land, an experience that gave him a vivid sense of his good fortune. "Anytime you go to a Third World country, you see poverty right in front of you," he observes. After graduating from Chicago's Whitney Young High School, Walker attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earning a degree in economics while also completing the pre-med curriculum. After graduating, he spent a year working in Washington for Turning the Page, a nonprofit organization that works with schools and parents to advance education. "I would organize and run workshops for parents about things like how to help their kids with homework, how to help them prepare for standardized tests [and how to encourage] healthy eating," Walker explains. During that time, he also applied to medical schools, choosing the College of Medicine both for the dean's scholarship and the Urban Medicine Program, which offers a specialized curriculum to prepare physicians to work in the inner city. "Medical school with full tuition definitely wasn't something I was expecting," Walker says. "It's a reminder to stay motivated and give it my all for everything I do in school. It also shows how much the col- lege values its students." Walker, who serves as the community service chair of the col- lege's chapter of the Student National Medical Association, expects to work in an underserved setting, most likely an inner-city community and possibly internationally, as well. reminder to stay motivated and give it my all for everything I do in school. It also shows how much the college values its students." – GARTH WALKER "One of the most appealing things about medicine is you can learn from many different people from many different backgrounds and deliver care to many different people from many different backgrounds," he reflects. "You can work in a rural area or the inner city; you can be in a private practice or a public hospital. Thanks to the dean's scholarship, no matter what I decide to go into, the financial aspect won't play as large a role as it otherwise would have." By increasing its ability to offer scholarships, the College of Medicine will be able to recruit more outstanding students like Konchak, Pantoja, Madu and Walker and to give them the financial freedom to work in the areas where they feel they can have the greatest impact. "Ultimately, we hope that providing more scholarships will lead, in turn, to more of our students being able to provide high-quality care where it's most needed," Azar says. "In the end, addressing the financial needs of our students will help the college fulfill its mission to address the medical needs of the people of Illinois." "The college is a great medical school. And the scholarship absolutely swayed my decision. … I felt I could do whatever I want because it's what I love to do—and not worry about paying back loans." — NNEKA MADU ILLINOIS MEDICINE | 19 PHOTO: LLOYD DEGRANE