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Alumni Achievements

Additional Alumni Achievements


Featured Alum
Meghan McGarry, '05
Major: Biology

Current Position: Fourth-year student at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

I'm in my last year of med school with rotations in emergency medicine, rehab, neurology, and many pediatric specialties. I'm also hoping to spend some time working in Africa. Summer before last, I completed OBGYN practice in Spokane and during summer 2006, I worked in Grand Coulee, Wash., and on the Colville Indian reservation, as part of the Rural Underserved Opportunity Program.

Why Whitworth? I decided to attend Whitworth after doing an overnight stay. I had visited many other campuses, but Whitworth was by far the most caring and friendly. I instantly felt at home. The students' and faculty's strong Christian commitment also drew me to the school, as did the small class and lab sizes.
Whitworth Activities: Pre-Med Club, Science Club, Whitworth Missions Fellowship, Warren Hall Dorm Leadership, Whitworth Wind Symphony, Emergency Medical Technician on Student Medic Team

Quote: "My Whitworth professors not only cared about me academically, they cared about how I was doing personally. Many of my professors became friends as well as mentors."

Influential Whitworth Experiences: At Whitworth, I was exposed to many different areas that will make me a better physician. The small class and lab sizes gave me a great science background for my med-school classes. Being an emergency medical technician on campus put me leaps and bounds ahead of other students in my med-school class on interviewing patients and in my clinical classes. As a student at Whitworth, I developed a heart for serving others and taking care of the less privileged, which I believe is very important for a doctor.

Career Goal: Work as a physician specializing in pediatric endocrinology, pediatric rheumatology or pediatric oncology.


Here's what some Whitworth graduates are doing with their biology degrees:

• John Rudolph, '08, is enrolled in a Ph.D. program in neuroscience at the University of Idaho.

• Melissa Hinman,'06, is pursuing a doctorate in biomedical sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

• Jonathon Anderson ‘08, (biology and chemistry double major) is a first-year medical-school student through WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho), a program that trains medical professionals in the Northwest that is run by the University of Washington School of Medicine

• Kylie Swisher, '06 (biology and chemistry double major), is earning a doctorate in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Arizona.

• Kristin Satterfield, '03, earned a doctorate in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Utah and is now enrolled at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

• Nathan Palpant, '01, earned a Ph.D. in molecular and integrative physiology from the University of Michigan Medical School and is a researcher with the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington.

• Kasey Rivas, '00, works in the University of Washington's Allergy and Infectious Disease Division of the Department of Medicine. She worked previously as a tissue-bank tracker with Lifespan Biosciences, a Seattle-based genomics company specializing in molecular pathology.

• Kent McVey, Jr., '03, earned a doctor of dental science degree from the School of Dentistry at Creighton University, in Omaha, Neb., and is a dentist with the Coeur d'Alene Dental Center, in Idaho.

• Lacey K. Jones, '05, is enrolled at the Michigan State College of Veterinary Medicine.

• Nathan Boyer, '05, is earning a medical degree at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

• Cherise Mattingly, '08, is enrolled in Whitworth’s Master in Teaching program.

• Joseph Jertberg, '05, is earning a master's degree in plant pathology from University of California, Davis.

• Tamar Loeffler, '04, is pursuing a master's degree in cryobiology at Miami University, in Ohio.

• Adam Vawter, '04, is enrolled at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.