28 September 1999 Andrew Makowski ('99)

At this writing, I am a first year medical student attending the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University Chicago. I am the only physics major in my class though I did hear rumors of a 3rd year med student who was a physics major. From my perspective, physics prepared me for a career in medicine better than any other field I could have chosen. While it alone did not provide me with the factual "knowledge base" necessary to attend medical school, it did provide me with the logic and problem solving skills that I employ each day in both the classroom and clinical settings. I would argue that these skills are more crucial to an incoming medical student (or a physician) than more factually based preparation. I apply principles of physics every day in the classroom and laboratory and this application has made my studies easier and more organized. Physics helped me mature as a problem solver and a thinker and I don't believe that I would be as well prepared for my career had I chosen another course of study. The skills one develops through the study of physics are interdisciplinary and extend well beyond the confines of Neils Science.

Andy