On May 15, 2011, 147 students will embark on their careers as doctors as they graduate from the School of Medicine. Not only will it be a memorable milestone for the students, but also for the School of Medicine itself.
This year’s graduation ceremony will serve as the final commencement for students and faculty under the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine moniker. It was just announced that the School of Medicine has been given the largest single gift ever to the University of Pennsylvania, $225 million from Philadelphia philanthropists Ruth and Raymond Pearlman. It is also the largest single gift to name a medical school in United States history. In 2012, students will officially graduate from the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
It will also be the final graduation ceremony for Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine. Dean Rubenstein announced last year that he will be stepping down from his position in June 2011. He will present the commencement address and symbolically bid the students and faculty a fond farewell after10 years of extraordinary service to the School of Medicine.
Beyond these historic events for the School of Medicine itself, the students will experience their own transformative moments individually. Of the 147 students graduating, 19 will receive an MD/PhD, five will receive an MD/MBA, four an MD/Masters in Bioethics, two an MD/Masters in Translational Research, and two an MD/MPH. Twenty one percent will pursue additional training in Surgery and just over 30 percent will be going into residency in Primary Care – a specialty facing a national shortage.
One student, Jenny Rowland, who will pursue a career in Radiology and continue her training here at Penn, will share her personal thoughts and emotions with the Penn community and the public at large as she prepares to graduate this Sunday.
The Road to PennMed…
Jenny Rowland
I’m not a typical PennMed student. I’m 31 years old, and I have three children (ages 6 years, 4 years, and 8 months). Although I didn’t know that I wanted to become a doctor until later in life, my introduction to medicine began at an early age. My Dad is an OB/GYN – so I grew up wearing scrubs for pajamas, drawing pictures in on-call rooms, and playing with empty syringes as bath toys. I also saw a more personal side of medicine. When I was four years old, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, which meant that I also grew up with a Mom who had a mastectomy and who often preferred to walk around bald instead of wearing an uncomfortable wig, hat, or scarf. When I was 18-years-old, my Mom lost her battle to breast cancer in my very arms, on the day of my high school graduation. A couple years later, I learned that, I, too, am at high-risk for developing breast cancer.
By the time I realized that I wanted to become a doctor, there was an entire list of reasons not to pursue medicine:
- The path would be hard. I wanted to have children, and because of my own breast cancer risk, my doctors advised me to have children soon. And, because of my husband’s career, I was already committed to living in Wilmington, DE, so it would mean commuting at least two hours every day just to get to and from school – and that was only if I got accepted to a school in Philadelphia.
- The path would be long. I was already 23 years old, and it would mean starting over. I would have to attend a Post-Bac program before I even started my 10 years of training.
- The path would be expensive. It would require that I forfeit my immediate earning potential in favor of massive loans for school and childcare costs.
- The path would be exhausting. It would mean a lot of late night studying and unpredictable hours in the hospital.
- The road would require sacrifices. Not just for me, but also for my husband- and my future children. Our little townhouse would have to be home for many more years than we’d hoped. There would be a lot of unmade beds, unfolded laundry, dirty dishes, and pizza. I wouldn’t be the Classroom Mom- the other moms might not even know who I am.
- The road would be uncertain. There were no guarantees that it would all work out, and certainly no guarantees that it would work out in the way that I wanted.
In spite of all of this, I chose to become a doctor for the simple reason that it was what I truly wanted to be.
The road to becoming a doctor has been long and hard. There were times I only slept a couple hours. There were nights I slept on a friend’s couch in Philly and didn’t see my family for two days. There were moments I thought I was going to fail. There was a lot of pizza. And yet, as graduation nears, I know the road has been worth it. When I hear my daughters acknowledge their own future career paths, they often say: “I want to be a princess, a doctor, and a Mom.” And what I love about their response is not that they might follow in my footsteps one day, but rather, that they already know that all roads are possible.
Jennifer Rowland graduated from Stanford University in 2002, where she earned a dual B.A. in Economics and Spanish, and received departmental Distinction, Honors in Economics, and Phi Beta Kappa. Her honors thesis investigating genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer earned her Stanford’s top undergraduate research award. Jennifer also displayed leadership on Stanford’s Division I Varsity Women’s Lacrosse team, being voted Most Valuable Defender and being elected to the All-Star team. In college she developed a love of travel, spending a summer as an English teacher and radio show host in China and a semester abroad in Spain. After graduation, she became a math teacher and coach at St. Andrew’s boarding high school. She also continued her health economics research and was awarded second place in a graduate-level national student research competition. She then completed the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Health Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
In medical school, Jennifer has remained passionate about women’s health. As Head of Women’s Medical Student Association, she organized a panel of Mom MD’s to discuss their experiences balancing medical careers with motherhood. As Head of the oncology group she helped to organize a variety of successful fundraisers and career panels. She also was awarded a FOCUS Medical Student Fellowship in Women’s Health to examine demographic disparities among women choosing excisional versus core breast biopsy. After graduation, Jennifer will pursue a Transitional Year at Christiana Hospital in Delaware followed by a radiology residency at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with her husband and three children.