Hudson Turner and John HoltA few
nights ago at the first annual Scholarship dinner for the UAB School of
Medicine, I made the following comments, in gratitude for the
scholarship support I have received.
Good evening,
My name is Rob McDonald, and I am in my
third year of medical education here at the UAB School of Medicine.
I am honored to be here this evening to address you as a grateful
recipient of Hudson Turner and John Holt scholarship
support for my education.
You know, I get nervous speaking in front of
people. I was thinking about why I get nervous. Part of the reason is
that the people that I am addressing are invariable a lot more important
than me. Tonight is no different. You who I am addressing know more than
I do, and are people that I respect.
We have seen the video that describes Hudson Turner
and his life. I would like to take a moment to say a few words about
John Holt. John Holt was on his way to fulfilling his lifelong dream of
becoming a physician after being accepted for admission to the School of
Medicine at UAB in July 2005 when on June 21, 2005, a tragic accident
took his life at the young age of 23. In John’s honor and memory, the
John Isaac Samuel Holt Memorial Endowed Scholarship was established.
Through this generous gift from John’s family, I have more easily been
able to pursue my dream of being a doctor.
I would like to take two minutes, literally, to
tell you why I want to be a doctor, and where I hope to be in the next
ten years. Then in my last minute, I am going to tell you what the
Hudson Turner and John Holt scholarship means to me
personally.
Why would a 38 year old man with a wife and
daughter want to be in medical school? It could be because, as a
slightly younger man, he saw, smelled, and felt first hand the
ravages of AIDS while he worked as an administrator for a medical clinic
in Zambia, the former Rhodesia. It could be because he found the love of
his life in Zambia, his wife Maggie, and married her. It could be
because after experiencing a great wealth of opportunities that life has
to offer, Medicine, he came to realize provided the way that he could
help the most people possible, especially those who need help the most.
Well, he is me. The experiences I have had in
Zambia have changed my life. My perspective changed, such that, in my
world, in the world that I talk about every day, in the world that we
all live in, the most important thing – my highest priority – is to
bring the best health care possible to the people who need it most. I’m
starting with Zambia. HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria have cut over twenty
years off the life expectancy of the average Zambian, in the last twenty
years – to about 34 years – an age that would put me four years in the
grave.
My aim for the near future is to study Internal
Medicine, and then Infectious Diseases, likely here in Birmingham,
hopefully spending as much time as possible in Zambia along the way.
After that, I plan to live and work in Zambia, translating our western
advances into real-world applications in one of the most beautiful
cultures on the planet.
My strengths, I believe, include clinical care.
That’s what I like most, interacting with a patient, learning their
problems, and finding solutions with them. I want to include clinical
research – real applications that will affect people’s health – as a
part of my work. Without research, medicine would be dead. With
research, we can continue to make amazing advances, such as we have seen
with AIDS – an effort in which UAB doctors and scientists have played a
leading role. These are advances that can reverse the trends in life
expectancy I stated a moment ago. Being a caring physician for those
who are often neglected will be my primary aim.
There are times when the reality of life
interferes with these lofty dreams of mine. The Hudson Turner and
John Holt scholarship support that I have received has let me
breathe easier when the financial aid term is at an end. At the risk of
speaking a little melodramatically – forgive me, I’m Irish – your
support has let me live a little longer, as I struggle through the
hurdles of medical school, being a husband and father. You gave me the
breath to get through those exams, without having to worry about those
last bills. I could focus better, and set aside my worries so I could
keep my eyes, if you will, on Zambia.
Thank you for your scholarship support. I am
indebted to you, and I will strive to earn, with my life’s work,
the support you have provided me.
