The heart of UMKC is our campus community. With lots of opportunities, it’s easy to develop mentorship teams. And these rich relationships — our 动态的重奏曲 — are some of our best success stories.
信仰穆勒 wants to become an obstetrician/gynecologist and change the world. 大卫·约翰，M.D., believes she will and is mentoring her on that path. When each talks about the other, it’s clear that their inspiration is mutual.
“在早期, I became enveloped in the world of women’s liberation,穆勒说。, who is entering her last year of the UMKC 医学院’s six-year B.A./M.D. 程序. “I started reading stories of female genital mutilation, 性暴力, of the pregnancy circumstances in areas of instability. These were stories that I could not shake, and I knew I had found my vocation.”
当她毕业时, Mueller plans to find a role in women’s global health after serving her OB/GYN residency.
约翰, a member of the six-year 程序’s original graduating class in 1977, had a long career in rheumatology in Hawaii and returned to UMKC three years ago to teach and mentor students as a docent, the teaching physician for a small “docent unit” of medical students. He and Mueller met when she joined his docent unit.
“Our students are all bright and uniquely talented,约翰说, “but it is rare to have a student like 信仰穆勒. 除了卓越的能力, 信仰有动力和主动性, 的激情, 在她的职业生涯中做出伟大的事情. I hope to live long enough to see her early accomplishments to improve the health of women at a global level.”
“Dr. 约翰 … approaches medicine with an empathy that is sustainable and rooted in ideas of equality. He stands for a world that is better for the people he serves.”
Her drive to get started in medicine as soon as possible led Mueller to UMKC, 她从哪里得到M.D. two years sooner than at other universities. 但是在约翰福音中, who as a young man envisioned being a professor of English literature, she found a mentor who also emphasized the humanities and appreciated her desire to help others.
“Dr. 约翰 is unwaveringly kind and takes the effort to see the humanity in everyone, 不管他们怎么来找他,穆勒说。. “He approaches medicine with an empathy that is sustainable and rooted in ideas of equality. He stands for a world that is better for the people he serves.”
Her mentor’s personality and commitment also make learning medicine less daunting. “我知道我总是可以问问题, 病人护理方面, 医学领域的导航, 或者一般的生活,穆勒说。.
In turn, 约翰 said, Mueller and his other students have inspired and renewed him.
“我在智力上变得自满了, 平静的情绪, professionally successful but somehow not complete,约翰说. “When I was a medical student here in the 1970s, certain docents showed me what it really means to wear the mantle of the physician within society. 我认为这是一份很棒的礼物. This knowledge kept me true to the profession; it kept me grateful that my purpose was to help people suffer less and live healthier. When I decided it was my turn to give back, life got exciting again.
“信仰有动力和主动性, 的激情, 在她的职业生涯中做出伟大的事情. I hope to live long enough to see her early accomplishments to improve the health of women at a global level.”
“As Faith’s mentor, I feel my major purpose is to be a sounding board and a cheerleader. Her accomplishments are her own; she created her own goals. Mueller said she appreciates his support: “Dr. 约翰激励我勇敢地生活. I feel like I can ‘go for the gold’ knowing that I have someone within the faculty who will have my back and advocate for my success.”
The med school’s docent system gave Mueller her opportunity to find a mentor, but she encourages other students to actively seek out mentors if a mentor relationship doesn’t develop naturally. “Keep your mind open for who would be a good mentor,” she said. “They don’t have to be in your field or occupation. Find someone that helps you grow as a person. 寻找能激励你的人.”