By Jack Schafer, Staff Writer
Nine Newman students and alumni have been accepted into medical school this year.
Seven of the nine will be attending University of Kansas’ School of Medicine, including 2020 graduates Claudius Ciecko, Stephanie Ng, Crystal Nguyen, Sarah Schreiber and Marisa Zayat and 2019 graduates John DeGraffenried and Adrienne Esposito.
Austin Rieth and Micah Vander Griend will be attending Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Colorado.
Crystal Nguyen said she is especially excited about starting a new chapter in her life.
“Growing up, I have always had a lot of family members with some pretty severe health issues, and I knew that I wanted to do something that would allow me to help others in the same way my family members were helped,” she said.
Nguyen said she feels like her education at Newman helped prepare her for the rigors of medical school.
“I am excited to begin diving deeper into all the concepts that I’ve learned through Newman, and especially how to apply that to caring for patients,” she said, “I feel like in undergrad we get a lot of little puzzle pieces together and in med school we get to really start putting those pieces together.”
Reith said he is excited to further his education at Rocky Vista University.
“I am looking forward to furthering my education in a place I’ve come to love: Colorado,” Rieth said. “I’m excited to be following my passion to become a doctor in a place that I will be happy.”
Associate professor of biology Michael Bradley said this year was a pretty typical year for admits, with maybe a few more getting into medical schools than usual.
“I think we train these folks pretty well and they’re outstanding students, so it makes sense that they’re competitive,” he said.
Courtesy Photo provided by Crystal Nguyen
