Meeting the need
Posted: November 5, 2009
First-year medical student Stanley Brewer gets it – “it” being SOMA’s new curriculum and mission of providing care to the underserved.
Growing up in Mesa, working in community health, and serving as a missionary in Korea, Brewer has seen his share of the challenges underserved groups experience in obtaining care.
Like most medical students, he wants to make a difference in people’s lives and is particularly fascinated by the brain and the mysteries it presents the medical profession.
Although the 26-year-old could have attended medical school elsewhere, he was attracted to SOMA in particular because of the new model, mission, and osteopathic philosophy.
Brewer, president and founder of SOMA’s Psychiatry Club, says that although there have been a few bumps along the way, he still believes in the model.
“It’s a better way of teaching,” he says. “Our pathology professor, Dr. Mark Fischione, is chief medical examiner for the county, and he can pull anything off the top of his head. Dr. Raymond Pavlick is our physiology teacher and is much the same way and has a good way of presenting material. He also really understands this new and innovative curriculum.”
Expectations met, Brewer says his experiences “have helped me to see how much need there is just in our own country, and the chance to work with a school helping to fill those needs is an amazing experience. I have lots of opportunity, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be here at ATSU-SOMA.”