The last week of April 2015 was truly unforgettable for Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine alumna 杰西卡 Dzubnar and her family.
的原因?
That was the week 杰西卡 not only learned she was accepted at OUWB, 但也有一周，她的哥哥, 尼克Dzubnar, was signed by the NFL’s San Diego Chargers.
今天，杰西卡·祖布纳(2019届毕业生) is in the first year of her general surgery residency through UCSF University of 加州, 奥克兰的旧金山东湾, 加州. 她的哥哥, 尼克, 与此同时, starts the 2019-20 NFL season — his fifth — on the roster of the Chargers (now based in Los Angeles).
And the white coat 杰西卡 wore at OUWB and a jersey of 尼克’s, both hang on display on the family room wall at their parent’s home. 第三件球衣, of former Chargers player Cory Lekkerkerker (married to 杰西卡’s sister), also shares a spot on that same wall.
“(Founding OUWB) Dean (Robert) Folberg asked what I was going to do with my white coat,”她说。. “I joked and said maybe I’ll get it framed and sign it like a jersey. My parents loved the idea and made it happen.
“Don’t worry, I washed it first,她补充道。.
功夫不负有心人
杰西卡, originally from Rancho Santa Margarita, 加州, says she is “not a traditional applicant” to OUWB.
她花了四年时间, 三个应用周期, retaking the MCAT (due to expired score), 终于成功了, 她说.
一直以来, 杰西卡 worked minimum wage jobs as a server at Buffalo Wild Wings, 在果汁吧换班, 作为一名急救医生. She also managed to squeeze in spinal cord injury research at University of 加州 – Irvine.
She remembers the day that everything changed. She was about to head out for a shift at her EMT job when she got the call from OUWB.
“I remember calling everyone in my family and just being so overjoyed that it was actually a possibility that I could become a doctor,”她说。. “这是一个超现实的时刻.”
几天后, one of 杰西卡’s two younger brothers, 尼克, was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chargers. 他曾就读于加州理工学院, 圣路易斯奥比斯波, where he played football and put up the kind of stats that get attention from NFL scouts.
“The Chargers offered him a position as a linebacker,杰西卡说. “We all celebrated at a local restaurant that now hangs 尼克’s jersey.”
杰西卡 said her relationship with her pro footballer brother has grown as they have each worked hard to find success in their respective chosen professions. She attributes her and 尼克’s hard work ethic to lessons learned from her parents, 迈克尔和玛格丽特·祖布纳
“My mom and dad made it a point for us to follow through on our commitments and understand that life might not be fair, but that hard work will always pay off,杰西卡说. “We are all competitive, but also very supportive of each other’s ambitions. 尼克 has been a huge motivation to me.
“He’s a person I look to when things seem rough, because he’s taught me there is always a way,她补充道。. “For example, when he made the roster for another season, I knew I could survive (USMLE) Step 1.”
OUWB给了我一个机会
杰西卡 said she is grateful for the lessons learned between the time she received her undergraduate degree from the University of 加州, 加州大学伯克利分校, 当她开始在OUWB工作时.
“It challenged me to be steadfast and determined,”她说。. “It helped me develop a strong sense of why becoming a physician was the only path for me, despite each rejection saying otherwise.
“It helped me see failure as a chance to grow, 适应, incorporate those lessons moving forward,她补充道。.
She recalled Folberg commenting during her class’s orientation that the obstacles they had faced made each of them stronger.
“I identified so strongly with this message,”她说。, adding OUWB was “the only medical school for me.”
“It was the first time I felt valued as an aspiring physician — the first time I felt like I could even say I would one day become a physician,”她说。. “OUWB gave me a chance and I wanted to capitalize on that. Now that I am in residency for general surgery, I’m glad I was challenged to develop grit. I can experience hard times without it shaking my sense of self and therefore worth.”
She praised OUWB’s faculty and staff for being so committed to the success of the school’s students.
“The faculty and staff at OUWB have a vision and their tenacity to become a highly recognized institution is infectious,”她说。. “OUWB turned me into a physician; it taught me how to diagnose and treat, but also how to cope with the pressures of a career in medicine.”
For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, marketing writer, OUWB, at (电子邮件保护).
