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10.18.05 From left, Dr. Howard Thomas, Jessica Foster, Will Nickles, and Dr. John Galloway Award-winning alumnus speaks to premedical students Award-winning physician and Erskine College alumnus Dr. John Galloway of Atlanta visited the Erskine campus Friday to lead a seminar for premedical students in the Daniel•Moultrie Science Center. Galloway's topic was "Perspectives on a Successful Medical Career," and he related some of his own experiences, including the mistake of living in isolation during his early weeks as a medical student. "I decided I had to become a hermit," he said. "I became a recluse — I didn't have a phone, didn't talk to anyone." He came to realize that such a retreat was an unwise response to the challenges he was facing. "If I could, I'd write you four prescriptions," he told the students. "Keep faith in your Erskine training, keep faith in your family and friends, keep faith in yourself, and keep faith in God." Erskine graduates who go on to medical school should be confident about the quality of the education they've received, Galloway said. "You don't have to be intimidated about coming from a small liberal arts college," he said. "You'll have the uniqueness of a Christian liberal arts education that students in the bigger colleges don't get—it's their loss." Stressing the significance of friendships and family connections for medical students, Galloway said, "It's more of a challenge to make friends in medical school, but it's important to identify a core group of friends." He said of some of the friendships forged with his medical school classmates, "We met around the cadaver and have remained friends to this day." Students sometimes need a place of refuge to get away from the medical school environment, Galloway said. His haven was the home of friends in Spartanburg, where he would drive after finishing exams, let himself in, sleep, eat, sleep some more, and finally socialize with his friends. "By the end of the weekend, I'd be a human being again," he said. Cautioning students against trying to "totally recreate yourself" in medical school, Galloway advised, "When you leave Erskine, build on your previous successes." While in medical school, Galloway said, he played tennis, joined the glee club and sang in his church choir. "You need to live life, not immerse yourself in your studies to the point where you become one-dimensional." Galloway urged students to remain true to themselves and to cultivate humility."Don't be a phony," he said. "Accept the gifts you've been given. Be humble, be comfortable with yourself, be thankful, and learn to laugh at yourself." Faith in God has been essential for Galloway through medical school and the hard work of establishing a career, and he advised students to maintain their church ties. "It's not ultimately about you or your patients — it's about God and what He is trying to do through us," he said. "For you to be able to obtain the true joy of medicine and surgery, you've got to recognize where it all comes from, and that's from God." Galloway said he recently took 18 months off from his professional activities to undergo treatment for leukemia. A 1977 graduate of Erskine College, Galloway is a member of the Emory University School of Medicine Class of 1981. He is professor of surgery in the Division of General and GI Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine, where he joined the faculty in 1987, and also serves as director of Nutritional Metabolic Services, medical director of the Transplant and Intensive Care Unit, and associate section chief for Critical Care, Nutrition and Metabolic Support. He practices medicine at Emory University Hospital and The Emory Clinic. "John has had a distinguished career at Emory, first as a member of their liver transplant team and now as a general surgeon," Erskine Professor of Chemistry Dr. Howard Thomas said. "He has also done substantial work as a medical missionary." Thomas came to teach at Erskine in 1976 at the beginning of Galloway's senior year, and the two have kept in close contact over the years. "John was a member of my first class of chemistry graduates," he recalls. "John is an excellent role model for aspiring doctors," he said. "He has a high level of care and concern for his patients and is a man with strong faith and dedication to medicine." Galloway has served as a mentor for a number of Erskine students in Winter Term externships at Emory. Honors Galloway has received include America's Top Physicians Award (Consumers' Research Council of America, 2003); Top Doctors Award in General Surgery (Atlanta Magazine, 2001); and Physician's Recognition Award (American Medical Association, 1995). |
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