COM grads have similar success, different goals
by Michael BakerPublic Relations
Peter Grayson and Arthur Baker, cousins and graduating members of the College of Medicine’s Class of 2004, share a mutual interest in health care. But beyond that, their similarities end. Just ask them.
Under
the watchful eye of their grandfather, world-renowned cardiologist Dr.
Peter Gazes, Drs. Arthur Baker, left, and Peter Grayson celebrate their
graduation from the College of Medicine.
“I guess we’re kind of like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in ‘Twins,’” Grayson jokes, referring to the 1988 movie in which two men share DNA and little else. “You can guess which one I am, and it isn’t Schwarzenegger.”
In reality, he doesn’t resemble the short, seedy DeVito character any more than Baker adheres to Schwarzenegger’s freakishly huge, painfully naïve role. But like the characters in the movie, Grayson and Baker are family members joined by a few common characteristics and defined by their unique career paths and personalities.
The cousins share a family tradition of health care—each man can rattle off a list of family members who work in the industry—but the ways in which they approached medical school lay at opposite ends of the spectrum.
“Unlike many students, I didn’t have a scientific background when I enrolled,” Grayson said, detailing his atypical educational credentials. “I majored in history as an undergrad and took some music classes. I went to medical school to learn science, sort of picking it up through osmosis.”
Although he acknowledged the eccentricity of his style, Grayson asserted that the approach worked well for him.
“I think more people should have a background in the social sciences,” he said. “It provides the intangibles that help you become a good person first, and then a good physician.”
Conversely, Baker possessed a more traditional interest in medicine.
“My first interest in becoming a doctor probably came from watching my dad work in his dentist’s office,” he said. “People hated going to the dentist, but they loved going to see my dad.
His interest in science increased during his high-school years, and after graduation, he enrolled at The Citadel as a biology major. Attending medical school became the next logical step in his education.
Although their reasons for coming to MUSC were different, Baker and Grayson would build similar reputations for academic excellence. Of course, each cousin demonstrated commitment to learning in a different way.
While conducting research at MUSC during his final year at The Citadel, Baker met an Australian researcher. During one of their discussions, the researcher asked if Baker had considered taking a year off after graduation instead of going directly to medical school.
While he pondered the idea, Baker was honored as a Fulbright scholar, a remarkable academic achievement that would make his decision much easier.
Coincidentally, becoming a Fulbright scholar allowed Baker to spend the year after his undergraduate graduation in Australia, conducting research on diabetes. By his estimation, he spent two-thirds of that time in a laboratory. During that time, he studied HDL (good cholesterol) to discover markers in the blood that could identify diabetic patients who were prone to future complications from the disease.
While his time in Australia provided valuable educational experience, Baker also took the opportunity to explore a new continent and gain a greater understanding of himself.
“Australia is beautiful; I’ve never seen any place like it,” he said. “The experience made me realize that people need to be patient with their lives. A lot of students come out of college and feel compelled to go straight to medical school. I didn’t feel that way at all. It was nice to have an interim period to sort things out.”
Meanwhile, Baker’s cousin found his niche in academia closer to home.
Grayson serves as president of the MUSC chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. While the organization’s members must be academically sound—the students must rank in the top 25 percent of their classmates—it also gave Grayson an opportunity to educate the community.
He joined other members of AOA to create a service project designed for area elementary schools. Each month, Grayson’s group visited a new school to talk with teachers and administrators about identifying and addressing common health problems in school.
“In this case, teachers are the first line of defense in children’s health care,” Grayson said. “It’s important for them to know how to handle these health issues when they arise.”
Speaking to the schools’ staff members, the group covered topics such as ADHD (“Everyone wants to talk about that,” Grayson said), asthma, seizures, obesity, and meningitis. Despite the range of subjects and the enthusiasm of the AOA members, the turnout at the earlier sessions surprised many of the AOA members.
“We thought there would be around 10 faculty members at each school,” Grayson recalled, “but about 85 people showed up at our first session! And it wasn’t an aberration. Everywhere we went, we saw a lot of impassioned dialogue from the faculty. Many of the teachers were frustrated with the lack of communication between themselves and the health care industry.”
The venture’s success and the positive feedback were encouraging, and he’d like to see future AOA members continue to educate the community after he and his classmates move on from MUSC.
Now graduates, Grayson and Baker will pursue residencies outside of South Carolina. The former will conduct his residency in internal medicine at the Boston University Medical Center. While he’s not sure what his focus will be, he knows that he’ll stay busy.
“Internal medicine is kind of a catch-all for me right now,” Grayson said. “But when I went to Boston to look at apartments, it seemed like an ambulance drove by every five minutes. I guess there’ll be plenty to do to help me decide.”
Baker will conduct his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The area of health care first appealed to him during his rotation at MUSC.
“During that time, I really enjoyed seeing women go through the entire process, seeing the doctor in a nine-month continuum with the patient,” he explained. “OB/GYN also gives me the opportunity to perform the duties of both a surgeon and a clinical doctor, which is nice, too. Honestly, I think it’s a privilege to help bring children into the world.”
His interest in OB/GYN designates him as his family’s medical eccentric.
“I’m the black sheep,” he admitted with a laugh. “In my family, no one’s done OB/GYN before. Then again, I’ve always done my own thing, and I’m absolutely ready for a fresh start.”
Not everyone makes the transition so smoothly.
Upon moving to Boston, Grayson will have to leave behind his band. For the past 15 years, he contributed his bass guitar and vocal skills to Maytag, a group that traces its roots back to the garage-rocking days of Grayson (only 12 years old at the time) and his friend, Taylor Nelson.
“Man, I hate to leave the band after so long,” he admits. “It’s been a great artistic, creative outlet for me. Then again, that’s what drew me to medical school. Of all the sciences, I think medicine is the most creative.”
Baker escaped the grind of school and medicine this spring, during a six-week trip to the southern Pacific. The trip wasn’t exactly a vacation—he spent time in Australia, following up on research—but he managed to slip away to New Zealand for a while.
“Some buddies and I rented a car and traveled around the island, staying in hostels and exploring the national parks. At one point, we spent about eight hours on a glacier, hiking through ice caves,” he said. The trip culminated in a skydiving trip, complete with videotape of Baker’s trip through the sky.
“You should see the tape,” he said. “On the way down, my face is ghost white.”
The future appears equally exciting for both cousins.
After commencement at MUSC, they’ll begin a new segment of their lives.
And if the past is any indication, they’ll continue to enjoy remarkable
levels of success in very different ways.
Friday, May 21, 2004
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